Why Dhoni batted ahead of Yuvraj in WC 2011 final

It has been more than 14 years since India's memorable win in the final of the ODI World Cup against Sri Lanka at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai in 2011. India defeated Sri Lanka to lift the World Cup title

after 28 years that too in front of their home crowd. It was also an special moment for Indian legend Sachin Tendulkarwho was playing his last World Cup and finally got his hands on the silverware after suffering several heartbreaks in the previous five World Cups he had been a part of.

Skipper MS Dhoni played a match-winning knock of 91*(79) runs while chasing a target of 275 in the final and finished the game with a six to guide India to their second ODI World Cup title.Notably, MS Dhoni came to bat ahead of Yuvraj Singh in the final of the World Cup and it turned out to be a great decision. However, the fans still wonder why Dhoni decided to go ahead of Yuvraj who was in great form in that tournament and eventually went on to become Player of the tournament. Now, Sachin has revealed the reason to send Dhoni up the batting order in a big World Cup final.

MS Dhoni has played with Muralitharan 3 season in the nets in IPL: Sachin Tendulkar

Sachinn Tendulkar was having an ‘Ask me Anything’ session on Reddit where a user asked him why he suggested then Head Coach Gary Kirsten to MS Dhoni ahead of Yuvraj Singh in the 2011 World Cup final. Replying to this, Sachin first mentioned about the left-right combination to upset spinners as left-handed Gautam Gambhir was already batting at the crease. After that, he also mentioned that, Dhoni has faced Muttiah Muraltaran in the nets during his IPL stint for Chennai Super Kings for three years.

“There were 2 reasons. The left-right batting combination would have upset the two off-spinners; also, Muralitharan had played for CSK (from 2008-2010) and MS had played with him for 3 seasons in the nets," Tendulkar was quoted as saying by News18.

Notably, MS Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir put up a crucial partnership of 109 runs in the final against Sri Lanka as India were now getting closer after a poor start. Gambhir got out after scoring 97 runs off 122 balls while Dhoni remained unbeaten on 91* runs as India won the ODI World Cup after 28 years.