'Victory in Australia was fitting reply to all nonsense being said about me'

India pacer RP Singh centre celebrates the wicket of Englandrsquos Kevin Pietersen with Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble right during Day Four of the second Test at Trent Bridge on July 30 2007 PicsGetty ImagesYesterday Sachin Tendulkar touched upon the illfated 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean on the 10th anniversary of the March 23 game against Sri Lanka which put India out of the tournamentToday he speaks about how pleasant things were for the Indian team post the disastrous World Cup starting from the tour of Bangladesh where Ravi Shastri was sent to do the job what Greg Chappell did before quitting as coachMIDDAY EXCLUSIVEPacer Munaf Patel left batting stars Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag celebrate Indiarsquos win over a formidable Australian outfit in the second final of CB Series at the Gabba in Brisbane on March 4 2008ExcerptsThose evenings with RaviAfter the World Cup we went to Bangladesh where Ravi Shastri was in charge I have always got along well with Ravi Shastri and we spent many evenings together because we couldnt go out too often MIDDAY EXCLUSIVEThe first Test was played in Chittagong and we were struggling a bit before I scored a hundred It would have become a very tight Test match and though we didnt win that game things started changing We won the second Test convincinglyChallenging in IrelandThe Ireland tour was a challenging one in which the conditions were more in favour of South Africa But we beat them and I was adjudged the man of the ODI seriesWhat a summerThis was followed by some decent knocks on the England tour Although I didnt score hundreds I was consistent which impacted the result We beat England and I felt the understanding and camaraderie were back in the dressing room There was Chandu Borde as manager cum coach Venkatesh Prasad as bowling coach and Robin Singh the fielding coachI could see that the players were happy they were smiling and those smiles were not put on they were genuine They were happy to work harder and we spent a lot of time without any agendas and issues This great atmosphere made a huge difference and it reflected on the way we playedMIDDAY EXCLUSIVEIan ChappellOn top Down UnderAustralia 200708 was another memorable tour on which we won the CB Series triangularMIDDAY EXCLUSIVEI thought that victory was a fitting answer to all that nonsense about me having to look at myself in the mirror That was written by Ian Chappell after the 2007 World Cup without him knowing what was really happening To go out there and beat Australia in their backyard was great Everyone knows how strong that Australian team wasNo disrespect to the current Australian team but there is no comparison to that side 200708 and the present oneThe crowning momentThe 2011 World Cup win stays right on top for obvious reasons Just to put things in perspective Greg wanted to change six or seven players in 2007 because he felt they were not doing enough were getting old and rebuild the team for 2011 This was the message which had gone to the BCCI and the same six to seven players performed outstandingly in the 2011 World Cup This is where I applaud the contribution of Gary Kirsten and Paddy Upton Gary was spectacular and both worked well togetherMIDDAY EXCLUSIVEIn 200910 we became the World No 1 Test team during that Test against Sri Lanka in Mumbai Overall we played some very good cricket to reach where we did