Michael Atherton terms Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s innings in final of ICC World Cup 2011 best ever
Former England captain Michael Atherton has said that India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s knock of 91 runs in the final of ICC World Cup 2011 against Sri Lanka was the greatest innings played by a captain in the mega event.
Atherton also said that his innings were comparable to the West Indian captain Clive Lloyd’s 102 in a winning cause in the 1975 World Cup final against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746.
“Lloyd was in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820 in his role as chairman of the ICC's Cricket Committee and as Dhoni past him on the stage to collect his man of the match award, the West Indian would have recognized a fellow traveller,” he said.
Atherton also lauded Dhoni for his brilliant leadership qualities and the way he led his team under immense observation throughout the tournament.
Atherton said, “Nobody, except Sachin Tendulkar, has been under more scrutiny. Every decision, every move, every statement has been pored over by an army of writers and pundits.”
The former England skipper also asserted that http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 surely had the ability to win the ICC World Cup 2011 but there were concerns whether they would be able to handle the pressure well. Atherton said that the team played brilliantly under the leadership of
Dhoni and came out victorious in the end.
After winning the semi-final against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028 advised his players not to get over excited and stay focused on their ultimate target of winning the World Cup.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758, who chose to bat first, set a target of 275 runs for India in the final of the tournament. However, the Men in Blue achieved the target without breaking much sweat in 48.2 overs.
Apart from Atherton, Indian batting icon Sachin Tendulkar has also praised Dhoni saying that he is the best captain he has ever played under. Tendulkar added that Dhoni carefully analyses the situations and shares ideas on the field, which prove crucial
to the team’s success.
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