Sachin Tendulkar asked MS Dhoni to bat up the order in the 2011 World Cup final

Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar recently revealed that MS Dhoni's decision to move up the order and take the No.5 spot in the 2011 World Cup final was originally suggested to the then India captain by the Little Master himself.

In a chat with TOI, Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag turned the clock back to explain the sequence of events which led to Dhoni walking in at No.5, ahead of the in-form Yuvraj Singh.

Tendulkar claimed that his idea was to keep the left-hand combination going and to tweak the strategy a bit. He then added that the idea was for Yuvraj to walk in if Gautam Gambhir got out, and for Dhoni to go out to the middle if Virat Kohli was to get out.

Sehwag shed light on how Tendulkar wanted him to pass on the message to Dhoni and return to his seat quickly. However, MS Dhoni himself walked into the dressing room which gave Tendulkar the chance to explain the strategy himself.

"I asked MS to consider the strategy. He then went to Gary (Kirsten), who was sitting outside. Then Gary came in and all the four of us got talking about it. Gary too agreed it was the right thing to do, given the attack on hand. MS also agreed and promoted himself up the order, " said Tendulkar.

The move eventually proved to be a masterstroke as Dhoni essayed one of his best ODI knocks, a 79-ball 91* that played a massive hand in India's 2011 World Cup triumph.