JOIN US'This Indian side can defend trophy'
Now, India’s 2011 World Cup triumph may seem to have happened many moons ago. But for Munaf Patel, the momentous occasion is vividly etched in his heart.
The pacer still has not forgotten the joy of holding the trophy aloft when billions of fans celebrated their achievement across the nation.
Munaf, 31, recalled the excruciating pressure of playing at home. “For me, it is still not possible to express in words what we felt at that time when we won the trophy. I remember there was a lot of pressure as we were playing at home.
So much that we completely stopped reading newspapers and watching television. You never know what they may come up with,” Munaf told Deccan Herald.
“We also knew that it will be the last World Cup for some of the senior players like Sachin Tendulkar. We all wanted to win it for him and give him this gift of cricket as he had everything but the World Cup.
Everything clicked for us and we got so much love and support from the public, that I still feel that it has happened just yesterday.”
As the pressure of expectations mounted on India, the players often turned to each other to loosen up. “We had couple of players with a great sense of humour.
For example Bhajji (Harbhajan Singh), he is a funny character, and will have everyone in splits. Even Viru bhai (Virender Sehwag) when in his element is great to be with. So, it was a very good team atmosphere and it reflected in our performance.”
For Munaf, the best moment of the World Cup was when India beat Pakistan by 29 runs in the high-octane clash in the semifinals. Munaf had bowled a good spell of 10-1-40-2. “During the Word Cup, we had been going ball by ball and match by match.
The more you play, more your confidence increases. But to beat an Asian team in Asian conditions is always very tough as they are aware about the wickets, the conditions and the players. And beating Pakistan is always very special. I too bowled a good spell and it was one our finest wins in that World Cup,” he said.
The Gujarat pacer was confident that the current bunch would be able to perform to the expectations. “We have a young attack but once you play couple of matches, you get into the rhythm and build the momentum. We have a very good batting side. So, I don’t think we should give up on the team so early,” he said.
Munaf’s adviced the Indian pace attack to focus on line and length in Australia. “In Australian conditions, there is bounce and not much of swing.
It is important that the bowlers focus on correct line and length rather than pace. If you could do that, you would not go for too many runs,” he said.