Embrace the occasion, MS Dhoni tells India's women team
Wishing the Indian women's team ahead of the World Cup final, former men's team captain MS Dhoni advised the team to embrace the occasion and not focus on the result. "Enjoy the moment because that's what cricket is all about. It's a sport...it's meant to be enjoyed," Dhoni added. India Women played their second World Cup final on Sunday.
As India women get ready to face hosts and favourite England in the final of the Women's World Cup at Lord's, former captain MS Dhoni has sent his advice and wishes for the Women in Blue.India women have reached the final of the World Cup for the second time -- the first being in 2005 where they were overhwhelmed by Australia by 98 runs.MS Dhoni has led Team India 2011 World Cup triumph, T20 World Cup win and the 2013 Champions Trophy victory.2011 WORLD CUPIn the 2011 World Cup as well, India had defeated Australia in the quarter-final just like the 1983 World Cup and then went on to win the trophy.At the Wankhede Stadium in the final, Sri Lanka won the toss, opted to bat first and posted a good 274 runs for India to chase.Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni steered India's chase as the former scored 97 runs off 115 balls and the Captain Cool promoted himself up the order and played a match-winning knock of 91 in 79 balls to give India their second World Cup.MS Dhoni's calm yet explosive innings at the fag end of the match still remains a strong memory in the minds of all Indian cricket fans.2007 T20 WORLD CUPOpting to bat first, Gautam Gambhir held the strings and scored a solid 75-run innings at the top to guide India to a decent total of 157 runs.Pakistan's batting order held their stitches together and Misbah-ul-Haq's 43 from 38 balls was crucial to take Pakistan close.But Dhoni's call to give Joginder Sharma the last over proved to the masterstroke that gave India a 5-run victory and the Men in Blue scooped the first T20 World Cup and their first ICC trophy under Dhoni.2013 CHAMPIONS TROPHYIndia were on a rampage in the 2013 Champions Trophy in England. They reached the final after winning all of their four matches.MS Dhoni's young squad was up against the hosts England in the final and put to bat first, India managed to put a 129 runs on the board in 20 overs with Virat Kohli being their highest scorer with 43 runs.Bowling to England, India picked up wickets at regular intervals as Dhoni's sharp bowling rotations enabled Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Ishant Sharma to pick two wickets each.With such an effort, India were able to hold England to 124 in 20 overs and won the championship by 5 runs.MS Dhoni, the only captain to have won all the ICC trophies, restrained from saying 'All the best' to the girls saying he's superstitious."Cricket is a game where superstition is involved and I'm definitely superstitious about a few words so I won't say those words but I'll definitely share my experience and what I think is important," Dhoni said in a video.Can the #WomenInBlue keep cool like @msdhoni to cross the line and lift the @ICC#WWC17? Watch Cricket LIVE at 2 PM, on Star Sports! pic.twitter.com/kda0qJvjcGBut the 'Captain Cool' shared his vast experience with Mithali Raj and co and asked them to simply embrace the occasion."To start of, I think the women's team has done exceedingly well throughout the World Cup. What's important is to embrace the occasion, to go into the final to win the finals. If it happens the next time, you have to win all the games in the league stage and the quarters or a semi-final to get into the final. So what's important is not to focus on the result, not to think what if we win or don't win," Dhoni adviced.Dhoni went on to say that one extraordinary performance on the day would be enough for the Women in Blue to lift the World Cup."What's important is as a team all of you have done really well and contributed, that one extraordinary performance will give you the World Cup, can be a brilliant catch or a good run out or good innings or a good bowling spell. So that's what it boils down to," Dhoni told.Dhoni adviced the India women to keep it simple and enjoy the occasion because that's what cricket is all about.