Ravi Shastri’s voice during his commentary echoed in every Indian’s ear as Mahendra Singh Dhoni smashed Nuwan Kulasekara for a maximum over the long-on and helped India to lift the World Cup trophy after 28 long-year at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on April 2, 2011.
After India’s exit from the 2007 World Cup, India faced many challenges despite the team featuring the legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, and Rahul Dravid. 2011 World Cup posed more challenges as it was played in India and a sky like high hope was there that Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his team could win the trophy for the second time since Kapil Dev led India won the trophy in 1983.
India started their 2011 World Cup campaign with a win against Bangladesh and then a thrilling tie against England. India won Ireland and Netherlands before South Africa beat them by 3 wickets which were their first and only defeat in the tournament. They beat West Indies in the group stages, defending champion Australia in the quarter-final and arch-rival Pakistan in the semi-final prior to the final.
Captain MS Dhoni-led from the front and the six sealed India’s World Cup triumph on April 2, 2011over Sri Lanka. The team has come a long way as it has been 8 years of that win and a lot has changed in the team.
Let’s have a look on the members of the World Cup-winning team and what they are up to in the win’s eighth anniversary:
MS Dhoni:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the only second Indian captain to win the World Cup in 2011 and wrote his name in the history of cricket.
India’s chase started with a dismissal of opener Virendra Sehwag. Sachin Tendulkar too fell after some time. Dhoni came into bat after India were struggling at 114/3 in their chase of 275. Dhoni anchored the run chase till the end with an unbeaten 91 and finished it with 10 balls to spare. Dhoni’s World Cup campaign ended with 241 runs at an average of 48.20.
After the World Cup, Dhoni led the team in the Champions Trophy in England and India reached the No. 1 position in Test ranking in his captaincy. In December 2014, he announced his retirement from Test cricket but he continued to play the limited over formats.
Dhoni is currently playing the 12th edition of the Indian Premier League for Chennai Super Kings. The team has won the title three times under his captaincy.
However, he is not the captain of India now as Virat Kohli is now the captain of the team across formats. Dhoni is an integral part of the squad and most likely will play his last World Cup. It is expected that he will replicate his formidable form once again in the World Cup.
Virender Sehwag:
The opener Virender Sehwag started the 2011 World Cup with a high note with his knock of 175 against Bangladesh. He finished the World Cup with 380 runs at an average of 47.50 and a strike rate of 122.58.
Post World Cup, he continued playing for the national side but he failed to perform well apart from the double century against West Indies in November 2011. However, he was dropped from the team in 2013.
He also played for his state Delhi, for Delhi Daredevils and later Kings XI Punjab in the IPL before announcing his retirement in October 2015.
Post his retirement he has started doing commentary. He was also a part of Kings XI Punjab’s coaching staff but decided to leave prior to the 2019 IPL. Along with his commentary, his humorous tweets on various topics attract a lot of people.
Sachin Tendulkar:
The second highest run-getter in the 2011 World Cup, Sachin Tendulkar scored 482 runs in the tournament at an average of 53.55 which included two half-centuries and two hundreds.
However, he didn’t play much after winning the World Cup. He announced his retirement in 2012. He had played for Mumbai Indians in IPL and currently the mentor of the team.
He also became a Member of Parliament (MP) and owns an ISL club Kerala Blasters.
Gautam Gambhir:
India’s left-hand opener Gautam Gambhir played one of his career’s best knocks in the 2011 World Cup Final. He scored a stable 97 and guided India to a convincing win. He ended up scoring nearly 400 runs in the campaign with four half-centuries.
But post World Cup, he didn’t have a great International career and was dropped out from the Test team in 2012 and limited-over in 2013. Though he returned in 2014 and 2016 but failed to perform and left out again.
However, in these eight years, he captained Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL and won the title twice. In 2018, he played for Delhi Daredevils in the IPL.
Last year in December, he announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. After that, he took up commentary and recently he has joined BJP prior to the election.
Virat Kohli:
Current India captain Virat Kohli has started his World Cup campaign with an unbeaten century against Bangladesh. He finished the campaign with 282 runs in 9 matches.
After the world cup, he has evolved as a player. He has become a run machine, broke several records and is currently one of the best batsmen in the world. He recently won the ICC Test Cricketer, ICC ODI Cricketer and ICC Cricketer of the Year award and he was named the captain of the ICC ODI and Test teams of the year.
Though he has been performing well, his franchise in IPL, Royal Challengers Bangalore failed to impress every time as they haven’t won a single title for the last 11 years. This year too they have started with the loss under his captaincy.
Yuvraj Singh:
Yuvraj Singh was the ‘Player of the series’ for his wonderful campaign with 362 runs and 15 wickets in the 2011 World Cup. After a brilliant show with both bat and ball in the World Cup, he soon diagnosed with cancer and he had to undergo some critical treatment.
He returned to the squad in 2014 and then played IPL as well. But he couldn’t play up to the mark. Along with his game, his fitness level too has gone down. He last played for India in 2017.
After playing for India and Punjab, he was nearly unsold in the 2019 auction of IPL. However, Mumbai Indians bought him at his base price in the end and currently he is playing in the IPL for them.
Suresh Raina:
The left-handed middle-order batsman, Suresh Raina got the chance to play in the 2011 World Cup after Shewag got injured. His first game was against West Indies and he played against Australia as well. After the World Cup, he became the crucial part of the squad and played some important knocks in the 2015 World Cup.
However, later the campaign, he failed to perform and was axed from the national team. He made a comeback last year but he failed to impress. Because of this, he once again dropped from the squad.
However, he has been performing well throughout the IPL seasons for Chennai Super Kings and he is the leading run-getter in the campaign with more than 5000 runs which recently he has achieved in the ongoing season of IPL.
Harbhajan Singh:
India’s first-choice spinner, Harbhajan Singh had a not-so-good campaign in the 2011 World Cup as he took only 9 wickets there. Following the World Cup, he was injured in England and after that he never returned to the squad as Ravichandran Ashwin took his place in the team.
He had ups and downs in the Test side as well but his poor form caused his exclusion. However, he returned in 2015 when Ashwin got injured but he wasn’t in form. He last played an international game against UAE on March 3, 2016.
After 10 long years, Mumbai Indians decided to let him go from their franchise in IPL and he was bought by Chennai Super Kings in 2018 and Chennai eventually became the winning side in the 11th edition of the IPL. This year also the defending champions have started the campaign with the consecutive wins where Singh played crucial roles.
Zaheer Khan:
Zaheer Khan was the highest wicket taker of the 2011 World Cup with 21 wickets. But post World Cup, injuries cause his exclusion from the squad.
He made a comeback in Australia series and played against England in 2012 before he was dropped from the squad. However, after one year he again played against South Africa and New Zealand. He last played his last international match in 2014, prior to his retirement in 2015. He used to play in the IPL till 2017 but he withdrew his name before the IPL auction of 2018. Later, he was also seen commentating during the IPL.
Munaf Patel:
Munaf Patel picked up 11 wickets in the 2011 World Cup and he last played for India in 2011 only. Later, he played a couple of Test matches against West Indies and a couple of ODIs. After that, he was hardly seen and 2017 was the last time he was on the field.
He was not a part of the IPL for the three consecutive series but returned in 2017. He played the T10 league as well but announced his retirement from all formats of the game.
S Sreesanth:
Sreesanth played only two games in the 2011 World Cup, the first in place of injured Praveen Kumar and the final match. He had a rather forgettable campaign as he conceded 52 runs in 8-over.
He last played for India against England in 2011. He was a part of the IPL team Kochi Tuskers and then Kings XI Punjab. In the 6th edition of IPL, he got involved in a spot-fixing case and BCCI banned him for life.
He took part in the reality show named Bigg Boss and finished as the runner-up. In the last month, his life ban was revoked and the Supreme Court asked BCCI to revisit his punishment. Hence, he is eyeing a comeback in the game again.
Ravichandran Ashwin:
The 2011 World Cup was the way to Ashwin to cement his place in the national team. Though he got to play only two matches in the World Cup, he picked up four wickets with an average of 23.25.
Post World Cup, he became the number 1 spinner for India in absence of Harbhajan Singh. He made a few records along with the fastest bowler to take 300 Test wickets. However, poor performances in 2017 caused his exclusion from the squad in the limited-over cricket. Though, he still plays Test cricket.
Apart from this, Ashwin has a brilliant IPL career. He was an important part of Chennai Super Kings from the beginning and from the last year he is seen captaining Kings XI Punjab in the IPL.
Ashish Nehra:
Ashish Nehra had a good outing in the 2011 World Cup despite he failed to defend 13 runs in the final over against South Africa. But he showed his worth in the next game where he picked up 2 wickets while conceding 33 runs.
However, injuries led him out of the squad several times. He finally made a comeback in 2016 during India’s tour of Australia. He also played the World T20 in 2016 before announcing his retirement in 2017.
In 2018, he joined Royal Challengers Bangalore’s coaching team for the IPL.
Piyush Chawla:
The leg-spinner, Piyush Chawla featured in three games in the World Cup where he bowled a total of 28 overs and picked up four wickets at an average of 43.50. Because of this performance, he was left out and played one Test and a few T20Is after the World Cup.
He played the World T20 in 2012 and then the Test against England at home in Nagpur. Due to his poor form, he lost his place in the India team. However, he actively plays domestic cricket for Gujarat and IPL for Kolkata Knight Riders.
He has been a consistent player for the KKR and has contributed with both bat and ball. He is currently playing for KKR in the ongoing IPL.
Yusuf Pathan:
Yusuf Pathan had a forgettable World Cup as he scored mere 74 runs in the six matches. After the World Cup, he never got the chance to play for India but he used to play for his state team Baroda.
He has a successful IPL career as he used to play for Kolkata Knight Riders and played some crucial knocks for them. In 2018, he joined Sunrisers Hyderabad squad and since then he is showing his game for them as well.
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