'MS Dhoni Was Very Serious About The Guys in The Mix': Pragyan Ojha on Why India Won The 2011 World Cup

India might have done well in the ongoing Caribbean but the team management had to face severe criticism for making too many changes to their playing eleven.

Former India spinner Pragyan Ojha, while addressing this issue, referred to India’s 2011 World Cup-winning squad. Ojha feels that India managed to win the 2011 World Cup primarily due to MS Dhoni’s supreme confidence in his teammates.

India, under the captaincy of Dhoni, defeated Sri Lanka in the summit clash by six wickets to lift the prestigious World Cup at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

“I strongly feel that the reason the 2011 World Cup was a success for us was because MS Dhoni was very serious about all the guys who were going to be in the mix, the 25 or 30, needed to play at least 40 games before the World Cup started,” Ojha said on FanCode.

The former left-arm spinner opined that players were selected for the World Cup squad based on the number of matches they had played. He believes that a cricketer can score many runs but while playing in crucial matches experience matters the most.

While talking about the current Indian team, Ojha pointed out how Suryakumar Yadav and Deepak Hooda embraced the chances wholeheartedly and cemented their spot in the squad.

“These players need to realise that they are playing for India and just grab their chances. Look at what Suryakumar Yadav has done … He’s getting hundreds. Deepak Hooda got a hundred. If you are scoring hundreds, in any format and at any level, then people start noticing you,” Ojha explained.

Hooda, during second T20I against Ireland, played a superb knock to score his maiden international century. Hooda smashed nine boundaries and six over boundaries to score 104 runs off 57 balls.

Surya, on the other hand, played a blistering knock of 117 off 55 balls against England in the third T20I.

In the ongoing T20I series against West Indies, Surya has played two matches but Hooda has failed to find his name in the playing eleven so far. Hooda is expected to feature in the third T20I as batter Shreyas Iyer, in all likelihood, will be dropped.

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