"Dhoni stood up and said, we're canceling the whole event" - Gary Kirsten recalls Indian legend's amazing gesture ahead of 2011 World Cup

Former head coach Gary Kirsten has asserted that he shared a great working relationship with MS Dhoni during his stint with the Indian team. The South African legend also recalled an incident where Dhoni decided to cancel a training camp ahead of the 2011 World Cup after the coaches were not given permission to join the players owing to security concerns.

Dhoni and Kirsten combined as captain and coach as India lifted the ODI World Cup in 2011 at home, ending their 28-year-old wait to lift the coveted trophy. India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets in the final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Dhoni (91* off 79) led from the front in a chase of 275.

In an interview with Rediff.com, Kirsten shed light on his relationship with Dhoni during his tenure as India's head coach. The former South African opener admitted that he was lucky to have the 'mercurial' Dhoni as leader of the ship.

"He was a mercurial, generational talent as a leader. He just did things that people wanted to follow, and so from that perspective, it was incredible working with him. And I think we built a good relationship. It took us a while, but eventually we kind of built a really good leadership relationship," Kirsten said.

The 57-year-old also recalled an incident during their preparations for the 2011 World Cup, when Dhoni stood up for the coaches after they were denied permission to accompany the players. He revealed:

"I'll never forget it was in our preparation for the World Cup where we wanted to head down to the Bangalore Air Force Academy to do some training and all the players were pretty excited by it. We kind of get up to go and then, the security guys asked all the foreigners, which were some of the coaches, for their passports. "And the news came back to say, sorry, we can't permit some of these coaches to come to the academy, it's a security breach. Dhoni just stood up and said, well, we're canceling the whole event. If they can't come, we are not coming. And that was a wow. A great indication of where we were as a team at that time," he added.

The 2011 World Cup win was Team India's second triumph in the ICC event. They had lifted their maiden title by beating England in the final of the 1983 World Cup.

---

MS Dhoni was the Player of the Match in the 2011 World Cup final

Heading into the final, Dhoni had a poor tournament with the bat in the 2011 World Cup. However, he stood out and delivered when it mattered the most. Chasing a challenging target of 275, India were in early trouble at 31-2. Virat Kohli (35) and Gautam Gambhir (97) added 83 for the third wicket to lift India.

Following the dismissal of Kohli, Dhoni walked into bat at No. 5. He added 109 for the fourth wicket with Gambhir, smashing eight fours and two sixes. The Indian captain also hit the iconic match-winning six off Nuwan Kulasekara's bowling.

Follow IPL Auction 2025 Live Updates, News & Biddings at Sportskeeda. Get the fastest updates on Mega-Auction and cricket news

Edited by Renin Wilben Albert