MS Dhoni came to bat at No. 5 for India in the final of the 2011 ODI World Cup against Sri Lanka at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on April 2, 2011. He scored 91* runs off 79 balls. Dhoni, who was leading India in the tournament, built crucial partnerships of 109 runs with Gautam Gambhir (97) for the fourth wicket and 54 runs with Yuvraj Singh (21*) for the fifth wicket. This helped India to chase down the target of 275 runs against Sri Lanka in 48.2 overs and thus won the final by six wickets, ending a 28-year drought of the Cricket World Cup Trophy. At that time, Dhoni surprised many fans with his decision to bat ahead of in-form left-hander Yuvraj Singh. Recently, in a viral video from an event, Dhoni revealed that he took this decision because Sri Lanka had three off-spinners in their bowling attack, including two of his former Chennai Super Kings teammates Muralitharan and Randiv. Also Read | How to Book India Match Tickets for ICC Champions Trophy 2025 Dhoni said: "Gautam (Gambhir) and Virat (Kohli) had a very good partnership, and Yuvraj was in form. Yuvi was having a very good World Cup. So, the tricky decision was whether Yuvi should go in or, you know, I wanted to… there was something in me; I wanted to go." He added: “The reason was simple; it was very experience-driven. If you look at the (Sri Lankan) bowling at that time, the bowlers who were going to bowl in the middle overs. Murli sir (Muralitharan) was there, Suraj Randiv was there, and (Tillakaratne) Dilshan was there in the part-timers, all three of them off-spinners. And two of the three off-spinners had played for CSK. So, Murli sir was with CSK, Suraj Randiv was with CSK, which meant that I had batted for them a lot in the nets. And it is said that it becomes a little easier to play off spinners for righties (right-handed batters)." The former Indian skipper said: "Gautam was already there, you know, and Gautam and I have not batted very much together. But we have batted, especially when we went to play India A in Kenya and Zimbabwe. In the one-day tournament in Kenya, I was batting up the order. So, we batted a lot together at that time. So, we run very well between the wickets, and it was needed at that point of time. And I felt that the left-right combination and the way I had played Suraj Randiv and Muralitharan, because of that, it will be a little easier if I bat well in the starting 2-4 overs." Watch the video here: Dhoni revealed why he promoted himself up in the order in WC 2011 Final . pic.twitter.com/wjkoagIXGU — MAHIYANK™ (@Mahiyank_78) February 2, 2025 Dhoni won the match and received the Player of the Match award with his match-winning knock, finishing off the game with a six on the second ball of the 49th over.