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Thursday, April 7, 2011

We didn't feel the burden of 1983 World Cup victory: Dhoni

India never felt the burden of expectations when the team went out to reclaim the World Cup title on home soil after a hiatus of 28 years, said triumphant captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Dhoni's men created history when they defeated
Sri Lanka in the summit clash of the World Cup last week in Mumbai to win the title for the second time after 1983.

"I don't think we felt burdened to win the World Cup since India's last victory in 1983, it was an achievement by our country back then," Dhoni said on this week's
ICC Cricket World Radio Show.

"Cricket is a popular sport here, we were expected to win every game in this event and people knew we were talented it was an opportunity for us to fulfill. The players were in good nick for the whole tournament and although we struggled on occasion the bowlers did well and we defended modest totals to win the event," he added.

For Indian batting maestro
Sachin Tendulkar, winning the World Cup was a childhood dream.

"As a young boy I started dreaming of winning the World Cup and to have now won it, I am still speechless. It is by far the best moment of my career. I've been dreaming of this moment for 21 odd years and its worth every minute, its been really special," Tendulkar said.

"Its my sixth World Cup and you can well imagine having played one of them where we lost in the semis and one where we lost in the finals it was really heartbreaking but one should never give up, continue to work hard and not lose hope. My biggest dream was this and I continued to chase it and it came true," added the champion batsman.

Former coach
Gary Kirsten said guiding India to the world title was a dream-come-true moment of his life.

"It was a magnificent occasion and dream come true for me and the Indian people to win the ICC
Cricket World Cup. I never pictured winning the World Cup.

"We said over two years ago we wanted to win the World Cup and until the event happened, and only then, did I think from day-to-day about how we could go about reaching that goal rather than long term planning for the success," said Kirsten.

He also thanked his entire support staff, including mental conditioning coach
Paddy Upton and bowling consultant Eric Simmons.

"Every individual I worked with, alongside Paddy Upton and later Eric Simons, we needed to get to know in a meaningful and authentic way and what was required to get the best out of him as a player," Kirsten said.

"We treated each individual differently and then set up a team structure and worked on what we wanted to achieve as a team, we set our goals as a team."

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