NEW DELHI: Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar spilled the beans about the 2011 World Cup final against Sri Lanka during an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Reddit, after inviting fans to pose questions on cricket and beyond.
During the session, a fan brought up Virender Sehwag's claim that it was Tendulkar who suggested sending MS Dhoni ahead of Yuvraj Singh in the 2011 World Cup final. Tendulkar confirmed the story and went on to explain the thinking behind the tactical move.
"There were two reasons. The left-right batting combination would have upset the two off-spinners. Also, Muralitharan had played for CSK (from 2008–2010) and MS had played him for three seasons in the nets," he said.
The move proved to be a masterstroke as Dhoni went on to play a match-winning knock of an unbeaten 91 in the 2011 World Cup final, steering India to a historic triumph over Sri Lanka in front of a packed Wankhede crowd in Mumbai.
During the AMA, Tendulkar was also asked about his favourite innings. While he admitted there were several special knocks, he picked his unbeaten 103 against England in Chennai in 2008 as the most significant.
That innings came during India's fourth-innings chase of 387, which they successfully achieved to seal a six-wicket win under Kevin Pietersen's captaincy. The victory also gave India a 1-0 series win in the two-match contest.
