“Dhoni finishes off in style. A magnificent strike into the crowd. India lifts the World Cup after 28 years. The party starts in the dressing room and it’s been the Indian captain who has been absolutely magnificent in the night of the final.” These words by Ravi Shastri reverberates in the minds & hearts of every Indian even after 11 years. Apart from the winning SIX & Gambhir’s 97 one special memory of that world cup has stayed with me forever and is my personal favorite moment of the 2011 WC which I would like to share with you all. There were around 20/25 runs needed and the ENTIREEEEE! I repeat, THE ENTIRE WANKHEDE STADIUM STARTED Chanting VANDE MATARAM , This chant is so fresh and reverberating in my mind even after 11 years so much that it feels like it happened yesterday.
I believe, there is no better day than Today, on the 11th Anniversary of that winning run chase to be writing this blog. Today we will relive those moments again and as INDIANS, we all love to hear more and more stories about that world cup and why not? It’s a WORLD CUP WIN AFTER All. Let’s turn the clock back to 2011 & relive India’s 2011 World Cup Journey:
Record alert - Sehwag’s love affair with the 1st Ball of the Innings
India started the world cup with a bang! With Sehwag hitting the 1st ball of the innings the towards the cover boundaries. Viru continued the streak not just for 2,3 or 4 matches but for 5 consecutive matches and smacked the opposition bowlers for first ball of every match for a four. Until, Slinga Malinga struck the Nawab of Najafgarh plumb in front of the stumps on the night of the final.
Singh is King: Yuvraj the All-Rounder!
If it weren’t for Yuvraj Singh, neither would I be writing this blog, nor 1.21 Billion people would have been celebrating on that epic night. (1.2 Billion back then, now 1.38 B, Thanks to Covid Lockdown :P) The warrior of Indian cricket wasn’t just battling against the opposition teams but with himself & the ever so deadly LUNG CANCER! Yuvraj, Not only scored 362 runs in 8 Innings but also took 15 crucial wickets and was the 5th Highest Wicket taker in the tournament. Throughout the tournament, Yuvraj provided India with breakthroughs with his golden arm whenever the opposition batters were taking the game away from India. Yuvi even took the crucial wicket of Sri Lankan captain, Kumara Sangakkara who was the 3rd highest run scorer in the tournament. Against West Indies, India was in a spot of Bother at 51 for 2 with Sachin & Gauti both gone cheaply. Then walked in YUVRAJ SINGH, He stitched a healthy partnership of 122 runs with young Virat Kohli. I’m sure the dreadful images of Yuvraj Singh spitting blood on the cricket field scared all of us is still fresh in the minds of every Indian, but GIVING UP didn’t exist in the MAN OF THE TOURNAMENT’s dictionary. He went on to score a Match winning century! Yes, the man who was coughing blood at half stage of the 1st Innings was standing tall with 113 runs off just 123 balls.
He didn’t just stop there, Yuvi was experimental in taking 2 crucial wickets in the same match and ended up with a deserving MAN OF THE MATCH trophy. I can go on and on with words of appreciation like a fanboy for Yuvraj Singh-The fighter & His contribution in India Winning the 2011 trophy but these few extra words just wouldn’t do justice to the tough character The Brave Yuvraj Singh is.
Zaheer and the revolutionary knuckle ball
The partnership is going strong, the batters are taking the game away from India & 1.2 Billion people are echoing WICKET, WICKEEEET (I bet you read that in proper chorus voice) and Dhoni brings on Zaheer Wicket Khan, aaaaaaaaand Zack does the trick! Remember when Andrew Strauss was going strong with 158 runs alone chasing 339 runs and Zaheer caught him off guard with a fast reverse swinging yorker and went onto to take back to back wickets and swung the match in India’s favor in that India vs England encounter that resulted in the 1st Tied Match of India’s world cup journey. The Zaheer Khan Knuckle ball foxed many batters in the 2011 world cup and was a revolution in the slower ball world which has now become a go to deliveries for bowlers to pick up wickets across the globe.
A compilation of all 21 Wickets of Zaheer from the 2011 WC is below fo you all to enjoy.
The Gambhir-Dhoni Winning Partnership
It wouldn’t have been fair if we had wrapped this article up without discussing the Iconic and WORLD CUP Winning captainship. Yes, the partnership that brought smiles on faces of 1.2 billion people in India and maybe a million more Indians staying across the globe. Because “Tum kaahi bhi chale jao, hum Indians har jagah milenge”. When Sachin got out, there was PIN-DROP silence in the ever so buzzing Wankhede stadium. Virat & Gambhir then steadied the ship and once Virat was caught and bowled of a brilliant catch from Dilshan. Believe you me, the heart beat went up, Not just for me but across 125 crore Indians. Then came the MUCH TALKED ABOUT decision, to surprise all, Mahendra Singh Dhoni went ahead to bat instead of YUVRAJ SINGH who was in Red Hot form. This did raise a few eyebrows and gave all the “Masala” to the Indian Media to run stories for months thereafter. Gambhir was solid that night, as he has been India’s Mr. Dependable in finals, remember that blistering 75 against Pakistan in 2007 T20 WC finals.
The stain on Gambhir’s jersey should be as ICONIC and should be cherished equally as the winning six from Dhoni. Because they both grinded it out for a mutual Cause – Lifting the Trophy for India & Fellow Indians. I guess that should settle the debate of who was better that night, because it wasn’t just a SIX that won us the game neither a gritty 97 won us the game, It was 11 players + the support staff plus the + the 12th Man - THE EVER SO LOUD WANKHEDE STADIUM!
Ofcourse, We wouldn't end this without that six, So there you go
I’m pretty sure this blog might have just brought a smile on your face reminiscing the WORLD CUP once again via a short write up. Whom am I kidding, not short to be honest But couldn’t help, I tried to keep it short but as I said before, IT WAS A WORLD CUP!!!!! Please shoot down below your favorite memory of the 2011 World cup and let us all cherish the memory once again.