“Dhoni finishes off in style. A magnificent strike into the crowd! India lift the World Cup after 28 Years!”
Ravi Shastri
Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium witnessed the magic of Dhoni during the 2011 World Cup final against Sri Lanka. What a fairytale ending that was for Sachin Tendulkar, the crowd, and all the Indians across the globe. MS Dhoni held the pose after hitting that majestic six over long-on. On the other hand, Yuvi started jumping and closing towards MS with his bright smile. Our captain cool and his boys sealed their place in history and Sachin received a lap of honour from Kohli and Raina for the one last time in a major ICC Event.
Sunil Gavaskar once said “When I Die, The last thing I want to see is the Six that DHONI hit in the 2011 World Cup Final. Such is the importance of that particular event for the Indians. Sachin’s last World Cup that too on Indian soil and the final was set to be played on Wankhede, a perfect treat for all cricket lovers.
This year, the event is returning home. India will host the ICC World Cup 2023 and the final is set to be played at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium. Virat Kohli is going to play a key role in the success of this team as he’s the only one who was part of the 2011 squad and will play in the ICC World Cup 2023. As we are now just days away from the event. Let’s take a look back at India’s ICC World Cup 2011 journey.
Indian Squad for ICC World Cup 2011
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (C & WK), Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Virendra Sehwag, Piyush Chawla, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Harbhajan Singh, R Ashwin, Yusuf Pathan, and S Sreesanth were part of India’s ICC world cup 2011 squad. Now, moving ahead, let’s look back at the unprecedented journey from Shere Bangla to Wankhede.
ICC World Cup 2011: Indian Team Matches’ List
| No. | Date | Against | Result |
| 1 | February 19, 2011 | vs Bangladesh | Indian Won by 87 Runs |
| 2 | February 27, 2011 | vs England | Match Tied |
| 3 | March 06, 2011 | vs Ireland | India Won by 5 Wickets |
| 4 | March 09, 2011 | Vs Netherlands | India Won by 5 Wickets |
| 5 | March 20, 2011 | vs West Indies | India Won by 80 Runs |
| 6 | March 24, 2011 | vs Australia | India Won by 5 Wickets |
| 7 | March 30, 2011 | vs Pakistan | India won by 29 Runs |
| 8 | April 02, 2011 | vs Sri Lanka | India won by 6 wickets |
Match 1: India vs Bangladesh – India Won by 87 Runs
Bangladesh won the toss and decided to bowl and that was the only decision that they could manage to take because then came the Viru’s carnage. Virendra Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar opened the innings but Sachin soon went back due to confusion while running between the wickets. Gambhir joined Viru in the middle and India kept on scoring runs at a good pace. Mahmudullah cleaned Gambhir and then the young, ambitious, and U-19 world cup winning captain, Virat Kohli joined Sehwag. Both the batters went on to smash the Bangla bowlers across the park as Sehwag scored 175 in just 140 balls and Kohli scored an unbeaten 100 in 83 balls.
India scored 370 for the loss of 4 wickets and Bangladesh could only manage to score 283/9 in their 50 overs. Munaf Patel was the most successful bowler with 4 wickets for only 48 runs in 10 overs.
Match 2: India vs England – Match Tied
India’s second game was to be played against England at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. India won the toss and decided to bat first. Sachin Tendulkar played a gem of an inning by scoring 120 runs in 115 balls with the help of 10 sixes and 5 sixes. The two left-handers, Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh scored 51 and 58 respectively as India set the target of 339 for the Englishmen.
Andrew Strauss started the proceedings with Kevin Pietersen. Pietersen was the first one to fall as Munaf Patel caught him on his very own delivery. Trott was sent back by Piyush Chawla on 16 runs. Ian Bell and Strauss continued to bat and took the game deeper. With the help of 158 by Strauss and 69 by Bell, England managed to stay in the game. The ICC World Cup 2011 witnessed a nail-biting finish as Swann and A Shahzad played a cameo by scoring 15 runs in 9 balls and 6 runs in 2 balls, respectively.
Match 3: India vs Ireland – India Won by 5 Wickets
M Chinnaswamy Stadium witnessed the sheer dominance from India and a masterclass by Yuvraj Singh as India won the game by 5 wickets. After winning the toss, India asked opponents to bat first. WTS Porterfield and NJ O’Brien were the only batsmen who managed to score some runs. Porterfield and O’Brien scored 75 and 46 respectively but Yuvraj Singh removed both the batters and helped Indian bowlers to wind up the innings on 207.
With the help of 38 by Sachin, 34 by Kohli, 34 by MS Dhoni and an unbeaten 50 from Yuvraj Singh. India won the game comfortably in 46 overs and Yuvraj Singh was awarded as man of the match for taking 5 wickets and scoring a half-century in the same game.
Match 4: India vs Netherlands – India Won by 5 Wickets
Netherlands won the toss and decided to bat first but Indian bowlers decided to uproot the opponents. Openers Szwarczynski and Barresi managed to score 28 and 26 before giving their wickets to Piyush Chawla and Yuvraj Singh respectively. Cooper played with a positive intent but managed to score as much as 29 runs before edging Nehra’s ball and getting caught behind. The target was 190 and with 20 and 30 plus contributions by top-order batsmen and an unbeaten 51 by Yuvraj Singh, India won the game comprehensively within 37 overs.
The man of the moment and the man of the match was yet again Yuvraj Singh.
Match 5: India vs West Indies – India Won by 80 Runs
MA Chidambaram Stadium was hosting the first Indian game and the boys did not disappoint the fans. India won the toss and decided to bat first but Ravi Rampaul first sent Sachin and then Gautam Gambhir back to the pavilion. With the help of Virat Kohli’s 59 and Yuvraj Singh’s 113, India set the target of 269. Smith started well and played a beautiful knock of 81 runs but the effort went in vain as no other batter managed to spend the time on the crease. With Zaheer’s 3 and Yuvi’s & Ashwin’s 2 each, India bowled out the Indies on just 180.
Do we have any need to tell who was the “man of the match”? Yuvi Yuvi Yuvi !!
Match 6: Quarter Final – India vs Australia – India Won by 5 Wickets
The stage was set and the boys were ready to crush the Aussies. Ricky Ponting won the toss and opted to bat first. First Brad Haddin and then Ricky Ponting told the Indians that this game is not going to be easy for the hosts, both scoring 53 and 104, respectively. David Hussey’s 38 runs in just 26 balls helped the Aussies to score 260 for the loss of 6 wickets.
Sehwag and Tendulkar opened the innings but Sehwag was soon sent back to the pavilion by Shane Watson for just 15. Gambhir joined Tendulkar in the middle, and both batsmen went on to score 50 and 53 each. Virat Kohli was then sent by David Hussey on just 24. Yuvraj was standing on the other hand when MS Dhoni came to bat. Things started to heat up a bit when the captain cool was sent back by Brett Lee on just 7. India still needed some runs as Suresh Raina played his part with Yuvi. Both the left-handers made a very good partnership, and Yuvraj finally smashed a smoky cover drive on Lee’s delivery to seal the game.
MAN OF THE MATCH – YUVRAJ SINGH
Match 7: Semi-Final – India vs Pakistan – India won by 29 Runs.
The El Classico of Cricket was about to take place at Mohali’s Punjab Cricket Association Stadium. The best of the best were about to face each other. After winning the toss, MS Dhoni decided to bat first and the openers didn’t disappoint the entire nation. Sehwag took on Umar Gul and smashed him across the different corners of the ground before finding himself in front of the wicket on 38 against Wahab Riaz. Tendulkar got as many as 3 chances from Pak fielders which helped him to score 85 runs with the help of 11 boundaries. The man of the moment, Yuvraj Singh was sent back to the pavilion on a golden duck by Wahab Riaz.
Despite an exceptional performance with the ball by Wahab Riaz, the Indians set a target of 261. Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez took the guard. Despite getting a good start, Pakistan batters did not manage to capitalise as Misbah-ul-Haq was the only batter to score a half-century. Nehra, Patel, Harbhajan, Yuvraj, and Zaheen took 2 wickets each to secure India’s spot in the finals of ICC World Cup 2011.
Sachin Tendulkar was awarded as man of the match for his blistering 85 runs.
Match 8: ICC World Cup Final – India vs Sri Lanka – We Know The Result, We Know The Man.
A packed Wankhede stadium chanting Vande Mataram! We as Indians can never forget that. On this very important and final day of the ICC World Cup 2011, Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bat first. Zaheer Khan bowled 3 consecutive maidens to set the tone for Indian bowlers and finally got rid of Tharanga who scored just 2 runs in 20 balls. Sangakkara joined Dilshan, and the duo was looking deadly, but Harbhajan Singh once again showed his brilliance and magic. He bowled Dilshan on 33 and then came Mahela Jayawardene. Wickets kept falling from the other end, but Mahela showed great resilience. Sri Lanka took the momentum with them with 103 not out from Jayawardene and a Cameo of 22 runs in just 9 deliveries by Parera.
275 in 50 Overs is really a tough task against a quality and experienced bowling unit. But with the motive to lift the trophy, Sehwag and Tendulkar came out in the middle. The very second ball of Lasith Malinga sent Virendra Sehwag back to the pavilion for a duck. Then, a great piece of work behind the stumps by Sangakkara helped Sri Lanka give another blow to the Indians. Sachin departed after scoring 18 runs and Virat Kohli then joined Gautam Gambhir. The expectations were high from these Delhi Boys and they did not disappoint the fans. The partnership was looking good but Dilshan took a screamer to send Kohli back on his own delivery. People were looking for Yuvraj but MS had other plans.
The entire nation was amazed to see MS Dhoni walking on the ground. The game was on and this gamble could cost the World Cup to the Indians. But if we take a look at the 2011 World Cup final scorecard even today, it can excite us as much as it did in 2011. Gambhir was about to reach his century but got cleaned up by Perera while dancing down the track for a glorious shot. Yuvraj joined Dhoni in the middle and the duo took the game away from the opposition.
Dhoni then smashed a six over long-on and the rest is history.
For the entire nation and Indians across the globe, the ICC World Cup 2011 was nothing short of a sweet dream. Whether it’s Shewag’s first ball boundary or Gambhir’s diving effort in the final, the entire campaign was one to stay in our memories for a long long time. Yuvraj Singh, the man who played a prominent role in India’s triumph in the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007, showed the same character and helped India to win the 50-over World Cup after 28 years.
Also Read: https://www.inningsbreak.com/australia-t20-world-cup-squad/
