Mumbai, April 2: The baton has been passed. At a score of 31 for two, with big-ticket players Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag back in the hut, India of yore would have most likely crumbled. But the current Indian team pulled themselves together, the younger members shouldering the responsibility to make their seniors, and the nation, proud.

The leader of this brave new team, MS Dhoni, spoke to the media on the side’s transformation and the milestones that the men in blue have crossed to reach the pinnacle of cricketing glory.

Emphasising the importance of teamwork in sport, Dhoni talked the media through his cricketing journey in a post-match interaction.

Excerpts from the chat

On what the victory meant to the team and to him personally

I think a couple of years back, one-one and a half years back, we had our eyes set on the World Cup. Whatever we were doing on the field, we had a long term goal - doing well in the World Cup. Just having a target in mind doesn’t mean you will win the World Cup. What we said was, we will prepare well for the World Cup. We will try to keep each and every individual fit. The prospects at the bench level - we will try to keep them in the best form so that when we play in India, especially in this format, we knew there were quite a few league games before the start of the knockout stage. We said we wanted our best players to be in form and [were keen] not to lose our best players to injuries. It was a big challenge. I think series by series we gave [players] rest and at the same time players opted for rest which really helped us fill a position and we were able to give more than 100 percent on the field. I think each and every individual was throwing himself around which meant that they had a bit of reserve battery which they kept alive throughout the tournament. I think [we] peaked at the right time which was important and we carried that momentum into the final and we were able to win the final.

On whether the win was for any person in particular

If you are part of the team, individual feelings don’t matter that much because we wanted to win this trophy for each other. When you are sharing the dressing room with 15 individuals and 10 to 12 support staff, the first thing you want to do is to give happiness to them, to their eyes. I think we wanted to do it for each other and at the same time, we knew that if we are doing it for each other, we are doing it for the nation and the picture gets bigger and bigger. We said, ‘Okay. Let’s concentrate and try to keep it as small as possible’. We knew that if we did well on the field and if we won the World Cup, the whole of India would definitely have a share of it.

On how the team was able to stage comebacks in the knockout rounds

[In] tough games, I think it is character [that comes into play]. How each and every individual is, how you turn up on the field, what we want to achieve on that particular day. Because of the amount of cricket we play, it is very difficult to give more than 100 percent each and every time you turn up on the field. For a big tournament like this, I think each and everyone was tuned for the occasion. You know, we didn’t want anything to go out of our hand. We started a bit loosely. We said even if we are in a bad position, will come back and as the tournament progresses, we said we are not in a position where we can experiment or say, okay this match is gone, the next match will get [back]. [This is] because we were in the knockout stage and I think each and every individual stepped up to the occasion. Zaheer Khan giving us the breakthroughs, Yuvraj Singh doing it with the ball, Suresh Raina coming in with the bat. I think each and every individual, wherever he was given the chance under tremendous pressure, he performed. So I think it’s the character of the individual that I think really helped win this big trophy.

On Yuvraj Singh’s off-field struggles during the tournament

Well, he has been vomiting a lot. How many of you were present in the first conference where quite a few questions were asked about Yuvraj [Singh]? I said what we want is Yuvraj Singh to get going - he is the kind of player, once he gets going [it’s ominous]. If you see his path, once he starts scoring, he starts contributing with the ball and of course, being the big match player that he is, he always rises to the occasion and his fielding is as good as I have seen in the last few years. Overall, I think he was very ready for this tournament and that was the main reason why he was puking a lot in the dressing room and not getting sleep in the room.

On his charmed captaincy – winning the T20 World Cup, IPL, CLT20 and CWC 2011

I am lucky [laughs]. I always get good players. I think the players have responded really well to me [even in] the Test side. We have got quite a few senior players who were part of the international side before I even started playing cricket. And at the same time [the] youngsters coming in, I think they have contributed a lot, willing to give it more than 100 percent. You see Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli covering the amount of ground that they cover in an ODI game because of the fact that some of our fielders are not good enough. They know that and they are putting in more than what’s actually needed [of them]. So I think the response is very important and at the same time I give a lot of emphasis on dressing room atmosphere. It’s not about how talented you are but if you are helping each other perform, if you are helping a youngster perform, that’s the kind of man I would like to have as part of my side. I don’t mind having someone who is not helping others [as long as] he is not demoralising. If he is a great talent, he can be part of the side. But I think when you are part of a sport what is important is how you are contributing so that each and every individual can perform.

On the 2007 Twenty20 World Cup win versus the CWC 2011 World Cup win

Well, you don’t need to compare everything, you know. I have always said that everything is special in its own way, the format is very different. I have always loved the ODI format because I always think you see a lot of variety in one-day cricket, like you saw in this game. We lost a couple of early wickets, then you have two batsmen struggling to get the amount of runs you need, you see a glimpse of not actually Test cricket but where the batsmen are looking for survival, looking to get runs. At the same time you see the slog - two batsmen like Yuvraj [Singh] and me slogging in the same game and you get the result. So I think every format is special. You can say this team started doing something different when we went for the T20 World Cup - actually we can close that chapter right now with this World Cup because we need to build up a team again. Because of the amount of cricket we are playing, we need quite a few reserve players to come in and bowl and we need spinners and batsmen and each and every one to be at their best. If you want to do consistently well at the international level, you need to have a pool of players which means you will have to play quite a few players and not think of the result.

On what this win means for India as a global sporting entity

Well, I think if you see the last three or four years, as far as sports is concerned, we have done well whether in shooting, badminton, lawn tennis and hockey. A few years back we did something special in football also. So definitely we are growing when it comes to being a nation where sports has [that] kind of support. Of course cricket is a bit special because of the infrastructure and everything else and as I said the last time, from 1983 there was a big change in Indian cricket. When we won the 1983 World Cup, slowly and gradually people started loving the sport and you saw all of a sudden two big individuals making their debut in the international arena, they were Anil Kumble and Sachin Tendulkar. A few years later you had Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid getting into the international arena. This was the chain of players because of whom we are in a position right now where we earn a lot of money and we have got a lot of respect. What we are trying to do is try to pass it on to the next generation. The expectations of Indians are growing and every time you turn up on the field, you are expected to win. I think nowadays the pressure that we go through is a lot. If you ask some of the players, they are not eating well because of the anxiety. Not because of the pressure, it is the anxiety that there is food in front of you but you don’t feel like eating it. We felt throughout the tournament you may say okay avoid it, do this, do that, but at the end of the day you do feel [like a] human being. But I think everybody coped well with the kind of pressure and extra responsibility that each and everybody had. And overall [we are] happy to achieve what we wanted to, on what we had set our eyes one, one and a half years back.