On This Day in 2011: Team India Ended a 28-year Wait For ICC Cricket World Cup Under The Captaincy of MS Dhoni

Add as a preferred source on Google

On this day (April 2nd) in 2011, the Indian cricket team ended a 28-year wait for ICC Cricket World Cup, clinching the 50-over tournament for the first time since the team's unexpected and historic triumph back in 1983.

After the 2007 50-over Cricket World Cup debacle, in which India was eliminated in the first round after humiliating defeats to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, India looked for a new leader. And then emerged Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

MS Dhoni secured India it's first world title in 24 years after winning the ICC T20 World Cup 2007 with a young team, but something still felt missing as T20 cricket had just arrived into mainstream cricket back then.

Although the young Indian team's T20 World Cup triumph had a lot of value and paved way for a T20 revolution that was the Indian Premier League (IPL), the country still wanted the biggest prize of them all: The ODI World Cup.

The 2011 World Cup was jointly hosted by India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Playing under familiar subcontinent conditions, the tournament was a perfect chance for India to secure the 50-over World Cup.

India and Sri Lanka entered the semifinals by beating Pakistan and New Zealand respectively. The title clash was held at Mumbai's iconic Wankhede Stadium, the home ground of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar.

This triumph was a big moment for Tendulkar who had grown up playing in the maidans of Mumbai and had heartbreakingly fell short of a World Cup win back in 2003 when Australia beat India in the finals. In his sixth attempt, Tendulkar had the perfect chance to finish his World Cup career on a fairytale note.

How the 2011 World Cup Final Unfolded?

Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first. Though Sri Lanka did not lose a lot of wickets, Indian pacer Zaheer Khan managed to create pressure in his first spell with three maidens out of five overs, giving away just six runs and taking a wicket of Upul Tharanga.

Tillakaratne Dilshan (33 in 49 balls, with three fours), skipper Kumar Sangakkara (48 in 67 balls, with five fours) and Mahela Jayawardene, kept scoring runs at a good run-rate. But Team India kept the Lankans in check by striking at crucial times.

Jayawardene went on to score an unbeaten 103* in 88 balls, with 13 fours. Thisara Perera finished off the final over by smashing Zaheer for two fours and a six, taking 18 runs from the over. Sri Lanka ended their innings at 274/6 in 50 overs. Yuvraj Singh (2/49) and Zaheer Khan (2/60) were the pick of the bowlers for India. Harbhajan Singh also took a wicket.

India started the run-chase with their nerves really high, losing openers Virender Sehwag (0) and Sachin Tendulkar (18) to Lasith Malinga early in the innings, reduced to 31/2 in 6.1 overs.
Gautam Gambhir, the left-handed batter and India's big match player, once again rose to the occasion.

After T20 World Cup 2007 final against Pakistan, this was Gambhir's chance to immortalise himself with a performance of a lifetime. A young Virat Kohli arrived at the crease, taking the baton from Sachin Tendulkar.

Both the Delhi cricketers stitched an 83-run stand for the third wicket. While Gambhir scored his half-century, Virat played what was one of his first gems under pressure, scoring 35 runs in 49 balls, worth its weight in gold.

After Virat's dismissal, then skipper Dhoni, who had failed to do anything of note during the tournament with the bat, promoted himself up the order with a stage set for him to make a statement.

Gambhir and Dhoni kept India ticking and helped the team cross the 200-run mark but a delivery from Perera dismissed the former for 97 in 122 balls, with nine fours. India was 223/4, still 52 runs away from the win with 52 balls left.

Yuvraj Singh, India's best perfomer with the bat and ball, joined Dhoni and they took India to the brink of a win. On the second ball of Nuwan Kulasekara's 49th over, Dhoni swung his bat to deliver the decisive blow, a massive six into the stands.

India ended the chase with 10 balls left and Dhoni scored 91* in 79 balls, with eight fours and two sixes. Yuvraj was unbeaten at 21* at the other end. India lifted the World Cup after 28 years.

Following the win, the team carrired legendary Tendulkar on their shoulder during a victory lap, while the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) built a memorial at the exact spot where Dhoni's World Cup winning six landed at the Wankhede Stadium several years later.

This tournament was an unbelievable all-round effort from India, as there were so many stars. Sachin Tendulkar topped the scoring for India with 482 runs in what would be his last World Cup.

Meanwhile, Gautam Gambhir (393 runs), Virender Sehwag (380 runs), Yuvraj Singh (362 runs and 15 wickets), Virat Kohli (282 runs), MS Dhoni (241 runs), Zaheer Khan (21 wickets), Munaf Patel (11 wickets) and Harbhajan Singh (nine wickets), all stepped in when needed.

14 years later, this win remains special to India as it was their last ODI World Cup triumph. The Men in Blue came close to winning the 50-over World Cup numerous times since then including the 2023 edition at home, but failed to replicate the magic of 'Class of 2011'.