MS Dhoni led India to triumph in the last World Cup. He recently retired from Tests to concentrate on ODIs and is looking for an encore.
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Indian cricket captain, MS Dhoni isn't a man of many emotions but after winning the World Cup in 2011, even captain "Cool" couldn't hold back his tears. (Complete coverage of World Cup 2015 )
In The Cricket Fanatic's Essential Guide, authored by Vimal Kumar and published by Hachette India, the Indian skipper revealed how he broke down on the night of April 2, 2011 after his team beat Sri Lanka in the World Cup final. (Also read: All eyes on India vs Pakistan battle )
"In the dressing room, everyone was crying. And everybody means everybody - all the 15 players, the support staff and everyone else associated with the team. In that sense, we really connected in the World Cup," said Dhoni in the book.
"I never thought I would cry after a win, but we all did. The world can't see those emotions of the players because you don't have the footage of that, but it summed up the mood of that night", added the Indian captain.
Dhoni then goes on to highlight how the team faced immense pressure as the tournament gathered pace.
"The pressure kept mounting on us as people's expectations were increasing with every win. They thought the quarter-final against Australia was the biggest game. And once we won that, there was an even bigger game against Pakistan in the semi-final.
"You know what happens with India-Pakistan games in the World Cup… people will keep telling you that this is the real final. And then, when we won that, we were aware of what was now expected from us. As much as we tried to divert the issue, the pressure we went through was a lot."
As narrated by Dhoni, the emotions ran so high that the team couldn't even eat properly. �
"At times, there would be food before the players and they wouldn't feel like eating it, due to anxiety."
Dhoni also spoke about how emotions and passion are the driving force for the Indian team while, money and big contracts are inconsequential in front of a World Cup win. �
"We Indians are emotional people and the emotion was released after we won the Cup. It also shows how much it meant to us. People talk about money flowing into cricket and everything, and you think that you will never see India players crying because they have a big contract.
"But we all were so passionate about winning the trophy. Money can never bring the immense joy of being part of a World Cup-winning team," Dhoni said.
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