Mumbai, April 2: It’s been a year since India bettered Sri Lanka in the ICC World Cup final, winning the coveted title of World Champions after 28 long years. What followed was a deluge of delight as scenes of revelry swept the nation. MS Dhoni’s team had scripted one more glorious chapter in India’s proud cricketing history.
It wasn’t a sprint to the finish for Dhoni and his men, though. The team had to fight for every win even as they shook off a couple of disappointing performances in the league stage. After Virender Sehwag’s sparkling 175 got them off to an 87-run win against Bangladesh, the tied game against England, followed by the loss to South Africa, left critics doubting India’s ability to go the distance.
What followed was an unforgettable comeback. After a convincing 80-run win against the West Indies in their final group outing, India switched gears in the knockout phase of the tournament. First, Ricky Ponting and his men were tamed by Yuvraj Singh’s all-round heroics at Ahmedabad at the quarter-final stage. Then, Sachin Tendulkar’s battling 85 helped India overcome a spirited challenge from Pakistan in a pulsating semi-final clash at Mohali. In the final on April 2, 2011, after being reduced to 31 for two, the Indian batsmen, led by Gautam Gambhir (97) and MS Dhoni (91*), held their nerve to overhaul the Lankan score of 274.
It was also a tournament where exceptional individual performances helped them surmount every challenge. Yuvraj finished the competition as the Player-of-the-Tournament, four Man-of-the-Match awards, 362 runs and 15 wickets highlighting his stellar contribution in India’s triumphant run. Sachin Tendulkar finished the tournament with 482 runs, just 18 runs short of Tillakaratne Dilshan – the highest run-getter of WC 2011. Zaheer Khan spearheaded the bowling department and was the joint highest wicket-taker along with Shahid Afridi (21 wickets) in the competition. Gautam Gambhir had four-half centuries in his aggregate of 393 runs, while MS Dhoni’s unbeaten 91 in the final was his only half-century of the event, scored at the most opportune time.
Following the win, Tendulkar called the victory, “the proudest moment of his life.” Harbhajan Singh dedicated the cup to the millions of Indian fans who came out to support the Indian team and Virender Sehwag exulted, “Right through the tournament it was a team effort […] We did everything perfectly and gave it our all.”
A year later, all those words still resound in the memories of India fans. Undoubtedly, the echoes of the glorious win will live on forever.
