10 Cricketers and their superstitions

Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar (Sat together and didn’t watch the WC 2011 final chase)

To win a tournament like the World Cup, along with playing excellent cricket for about two months, a team needs that extra inch of luck. India ended their World Cup yearn of 28 years in 2011 when MS Dhoni stroked a Kulasekara delivery over long-on. It also fulfilled Tendulkar’s dream of lifting the coveted trophy at least once in his glorious career.

In the final against Sri Lanka, Malinga picked up the wickets of both Indian openers. Although the middle order rescued the team and eventually won the match, Sachin and Sehwag didn’t watch the entire innings! Tendulkar urged Sehwag to sit beside him until the match was over.

He was speaking at the launch of his autobiography in Mumbai, “I was a little superstitious because when we were playing Australia in Ahmedabad, I was not watching – I’d put my head down on the massage table and was being attended by the team physiotherapist. Viru had been sitting next to me. So I continued that in the World Cup final,” he said.

The openers gave plenty of vital starts throughout the tournament. Tendulkar was the second-highest scorer of the tournament. He accumulated 482 runs at 53 with two centuries. Sehwag famously scored boundary on the first ball of the innings on most occasions.