MS is going to win us the 2011 World Cup final, Paddy Upton recalls his words when Dhoni walked out to bat

The scenes of MS Dhoni smashing Nuwan Kulasekara for a six down the ground at the Wankhede stadium in the final of the World Cup 2011 will remain etched in every fans’ heart forever. Dhoni had led from the front in the steep chase for the Men in Blue and created history as India lifted the title for the second time. India’s then mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton has recalled those glory moments and has revealed that he knew that they were going to win the moment Dhoni promoted himself in the final.

Chasing a steep target of 275 runs, the hosts were struggling at 31/2 and then 114/3 at one stage which is when the Indian skipper decided to go into bat ahead of the in-form Yuvraj Singh. It was an instinctive decision from MS Dhoni as Muttiah Muralitharan was bowling at that stage and he felt the off-spinner would trouble the left-hander in the middle in the pressure chase.

The moment has been picturised as well in the movie – MS Dhoni – The Untold Story. However, another untold story of that moment has been explained by Paddy Upton now while talking to Firstpost. Paddy was sitting besides Gary Kirsten when Dhoni told him about the sudden change in the batting order after the fall of Virat Kohli‘s wicket. Interestingly, the moment, Mahi started walking down the stairs, Upton was confident of India winning the World Cup.

MS is going to win us the World Cup

“when Dhoni tapped on the glass window and indicated to Gary (Kirsten) that he was batting ahead of Yuvraj and then when he walked down the stairs at Wankhede, I turned to Gary and said that MS is going to win us the World Cup. These were my exact words,” Paddy Upton recalled.

As it panned out, Paddy’s words turned true with MS Dhoni scoring an unbeaten 91 to take India over the line historically. Gautam Gambhir also played a brilliant knock of 97 runs to anchor the innings but the fact that Dhoni finished the game led to the latter getting the Man of the Match award. The World Cup-winning moment is still fresh for the fans in India and they will be hoping for the scenes to repeat at Lord’s on July 14.