India is lucky to have a "stable" captain like Mahendra Singh Dhoni, according to Pakistan's ODI skipper Shahid Afridi who is still trying to play down his negative remarks against Indians that caused an uproar.

"I thought Dhoni led the Indians very shrewdly and performed brilliantly in the final. India is lucky to have a stable captain like him, Afridi told PTI in an interview.

"He had a big role to play in the Indian victory and I am sure this victory means a lot for Indian cricket and their people. But I also hope the World Cup coming back to Asia will also boost the sport in this region again and normalise bilateral Indo-Pak cricket relations," he said.

Afridi acknowledged that India were the better side on that day and deserved to win the World Cup.