Former India mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton said that the 2011 World Cup semi-final against Pakistan was a non-negotiable match to win for MS Dhoni & Co Upton, who was part of Gary Kirsten’s coaching staff in the Indian set-up at the time. Was. He said there was an added political pressure that everyone knew about but never talked about. India and Pakistan do not have good political relations and this is not hidden from anyone.
The winner of the semi-final had to stay at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai where the 2008 terrorist attack took place. Upton said it was ideal to allow Pakistan to stay at the Taj which put additional pressure on the Indian team.
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“There was an additional external political pressure that no one talked about but everyone was fully aware of: If India lost, Pakistan would go to Mumbai and stay in the same Taj Hotel that was the target of the terrorist attacks. Every one of us One knew the symbolism of this without saying. Letting Pakistan win and stay in the crown was not really the norm; it didn’t pile up on an energetic level. Therefore, it was the added pressure that it was a non-negotiable to lose The game was there,” Upton wrote in a column for the Indian Express on the 11th anniversary of India’s World Cup win.
However, India managed to beat Pakistan by 29 runs as batting great Sachin Tendulkar scored a sensational 85 against a quality bowling attack.
Upton further suggested that the high-octane rivalry between India and Pakistan is more about the fans as the players do not share any animosity.
“The Indo-Pak rivalry is more about the audience; The players themselves do not have that fierceness and animosity. They know each other well and get on well. Pakistan was always a very easy game for which the Indian team had to prepare as they did not need any extra motivation,” he said.
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Upton further spoke about Tendulkar who tried his hand at the World Cup five times before 2011 but failed. The former mental conditioning coach spoke about the role of the Master Blaster during tournaments where many players committed to win the coveted tournament for him.
Sachin played five World Cups. Not only highly experienced, he was above the team in terms of his achievements, but he was a team player. He didn’t speak much in team meetings, but when something needed to be said, he did say it – and when he did, which didn’t happen very often, there was gravitas to it and the players listened. This was his last World Cup and the players knew that the only thing in their trophy cabinet was not the World Cup. I know a lot of players have committed to saying they want to win and gifting them the World Cup. He knew he had that support. Sachin was not waiting for the other players to gift the cup; He knew that his time was about to come to play his part in bringing her home. We saw the innings he played,” Upton wrote.
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