On this day in 2011, India won the cricket World Cup by beating Sri Lanka at Wankhede stadium in Mumbai. India were playing in front of a massive home crowd who were waiting for 28 long years to experience the moment. MS Dhoni and his men delivered the greatest joy and those moments of jubilation, emotion, and passion after the win are still fresh in every Indian cricket fan’s mind.
Like any other World Cup India was considered as one of the favorites from the beginning of the tournament. Especially because the tournament was playing in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the expectation was high which also brought huge pressure on the players. India’s performance was steady in the World Cup. They put up a massive score against Bangladesh in the tournament opener and won with relative ease. Their next match against England ended in a Tie after a seesaw battle. They easily beat the minnows Ireland and Netherlands but faced a setback against South Africa where they lost in the 50th over despite Sachin Tendulkar’s 99th International ton. The last match against West Indies also resulted in easy win and India finished in the second position in group B.
They faced Australia, the champion of last 3 editions of the tournament in the Quarterfinal and after a stiff chase eliminated them thanks to Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina. The semi-final clash was the mother of all clashes, an Indian- Pakistan battle in Mohali for a spot in the World Cup final. It was a relatively easy win as Tendulkar’s 85 helped India to put up a respectable score and Pakistani batsmen expectedly finished much below the target.
In the final against Sri Lanka, India bowled first and started strongly, thanks to a wonderful spell from Zaheer Khan who was looking for redemption from his performance in 2003 final. Things were mostly under control but a brilliant century from Mahela Jayawardene and late onslaught from Thisara Perera ensured that the target from India was raised from 250 to 275.
India’s chase got two big blows when Lasith Malinga took care of both the iconic openers for India. But Gautam Gambhir was in a great form. He built a partnership with young Virat Kohli and then with MS Dhoni. Gambhir could not complete his century and got out for 97 while playing a nervous shot but after 2007 T20 World Cup, this was the second time when Gambhir delivered crucial knock on the final of a global ICC event. MS Dhoni promoted himself before Yuvraj Singh and played a brilliant innings to remain unbeaten on 91. The second ball of the 49th over was hit over the long on by Dhoni for the winning runs. The moment stood still for every Indian fan. The party continued till early morning at the homes and on the roads. A cricket crazy nation got their biggest prize as they got to touch the World Cup after 28 years!
