Mumbai : Team India's world cup winning coach Gary Kirsten feels the team started to really 'apply' themselves from the knock out stages of the 2011 edition of the world cup.
Recollecting those memories down memory lane , Kirsten said the team , in the group stages, just played average cricket and nothing worthy.
It can be recalled that India lost to South Africa in the group stages and tied their match against England at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
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However the performance of the team in the quarters against the defending champions Australia, last four clash against arch-rivals Pakistan and the Grand Finale against Sri Lankans have impressed the former South African opener.
“We played average cricket throughout the group stages of the tournament…We had a really good quarter-final clash against the mighty Aussies where we were under pressure,” Gary said to ICC portal.
Emphasizing mainly on the Grand Finale, Gary felt It was Gautam Gambhir's innings that made all the difference.
Chasing 275 to clinch the cup that matters , India were tottering at 31 for the loss of two openers and then a 83 run third wicket partnership between Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli laid the foundations of the team's win.
He also lauded skipper M,S. Dhoni's courageous initiave. MSD was in poor touch at that time and to everyone's surprise promoted himself to number 5 slot ahead of in-form Yuvraj Singh. And the rest is history.
