Gautam Gambhir recalls how MS Dhoni's suggestion resulted in his dismissal at 97 in 2011 World Cup Final

New Delhi, Nov 18: Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir played a crucial role in Indian Cricket Team's success in both the ICC World Cup finals but many of his fans believe that the Delhi cricketer doesn't get his due credit.

Gambhir was the leading run-scorer for India in the ICC World T20 final in 2007 and in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. In 2007 final against arch-rivals Pakistan, Gambhir made 75 but Irfan Pathan was awarded the man of the match for his bowling figures of 4-0-16-3.

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In the 2011 WC final at Wankhede Stadium, the cricketer missed out on a well-deserved century to be dismissed for 97 and was once again denied the player of the match in the all-important final after captain MS Dhoni played an unbeaten knock of 94 and stole the show his match-winning six.

Gambhir too feels that it was heart-breaking for him to have not been awarded the man of the match in both the World Cup finals but he's equally happy that his contributions resulted in a winning cause.

The cricketer-turned-politician, however, revealed why he failed to slam a century in the all-important WC final at Wankhede. Gambhir, in an interview with the Lallantop, said he wasn't thinking about individual performance till the time captain Dhoni reminded him that he was batting on 97 and that he should play with caution and get those three runs to get to the milestone.

"I have been asked this question many times, on what happened when I was on 97. I tell every youngster and every person that before getting to 97, I never thought about my own individual score but looked at the target set by Sri Lanka," Gambhir revealed.

"I remember that after the completion of one over, Dhoni told me that 'three runs are remaining, get these three runs and your hundred would be completed'," he added.

Gambhir feels the moment he was reminded about his individual record, it played with his mind and he was clean bowled by Thisara Perera for 97 while attempting a slog.

"When your mind suddenly turns to your individual performance, individual score, then somewhere you have a rush of blood. Before that moment, my target was only to chase Sri Lanka's target. If only that target remained in my mind, maybe, I would have easily scored my hundred," said Gambhir.

"Till I was on 97, I was in the present. But as soon as I thought that I am just three runs away from getting a hundred, the rush of blood caused by the desire to get to a hundred took over.

Recalling the disappointment while he was walking towards the dressing room after getting dismissed, as India needed run-a-ball 52 to win the match, he felt that these three runs are going to haunt him for the rest of his life.

"That's why it's important to remain in the present... When I was walking back to the dressing room after being dismissed, I said to myself that these three runs would trouble me for the rest of my life and that is true. Even to this day, people ask me why I couldn't get those three runs," Gambhir said.