Virat Kohli was among players who carried Sachin Tendulkar on their shoulders at the Wankhede.© AFP
India captain Virat Kohli has revealed that why the team decided to lift legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar on their shoulders after the World Cup win in 2011. On April 2, 2011, India defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets at Wankhede Stadium in the finals to lift their second ODI World Cup. After the win, the whole team had carried Sachin on their shoulder in a lap of honour. The right-handed batsman was speaking to Indian cricketer Mayank Agarwal in the Latest Episode of the “Open nets with Mayank” when the skipper was asked about “lap of honour” given to Sachin.
“Firstly my feeling was of gratitude that we had won the World Cup. I felt absolute joy. But invariably everyone’s feeling was centred around “Paaji” (Sachin Tendulkar) because we knew this was his last chance to win the World Cup and whatever he had done for the country for so many years, ‘n’ number of games he has contributed to India’s winning cause and given us all motivation and inspiration,” said Indian skipper during the candid chat with Mayank.
“This was that gift from all of those people for him because he kept giving, giving, giving for India and I thought what better way at his home ground to realise his dream and then he gets a lap of honour. So, we felt like this is the ideal thing to do for him, and we went ahead and did it,” he added.
Kohli and Mayank would soon be seen in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab respectively in the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting from September 19.
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