ICC World Cup: Four Players Without Whom The Dream Wouldn’t Have Been Possible

10 years ago, on 2nd April 2011, India lifted the ICC Cricket World Cup Trophy. Today, we relive those memories and look at players without whom this wouldn’t have been possible.

Mumbai: 10 years ago, MS Dhoni dispatched Nuwan Kulasekara for a huge six over long-on at the Wankhade Stadium. The moment is edged in every Indian’s memory who watched it on TV or on a big screen in a community space. If 1983 World Cup was the beginning of a cricketing era, then the 2011 World Cup win was the ultimate party. India dominated and announced that they were the new bosses of the cricketing world.

India became the first team to win the World Cup on their home soil. This win didn’t come easily in India’s way. India had to build a captain and a team around him after the embarrassing loss at the 2007 Cricket World Cup. But India came back strong and eventually won the competition by some distance.

Today, we look at the four players without whom, this World Cup win wouldn’t have been possible.

Sachin Tendulkar: This victory would mean nothing if we do not mention Sachin Tendulkar here. Fans might remember, that when India’s WC 2011 campaign started, every player was saying just one thing that ‘we want to win the World Cup for Sachin paji. As Virat Kohli rightly put it after the win, “Sachin Tendulkar has carried the burden of the nation for 21 years; it was time we carried him. Chak de India!”

21 years and 5 World Cups after, Sachin finally won the silverware for India. He was the second highest run getter after Tilakaratne Dilshan with 482 runs. Tendulkar scored centuries against South Africa and England in the World Cup. He scored an all important but lucky 85 runs in the semi-final against Pakistan which helped India to cross the line.

Yuvraj Singh: He was the Man of the series, in this World Cup. His performance, especially in the quarter-final against Australia is remembered by a lot many. He also scored a hundred against West Indies to beat them. Yuvraj Singh also started to face some symptoms related to cancer in the World Cup, itself. He was seen coughing blood prior to this West Indies match. But Yuvraj came back strong and was even present at the crease when MS Dhoni hit that big six over the long on fence. He picked wickets and also scored quick runs for India throughout this World Cup f 2011.

MS Dhoni: Although some fans might be irked by the choice of MS Dhoni in this small list ahead of players like Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag who scored more runs that Dhoni in the World Cup. But, the role of MS Dhoni becomes very important, not just as a player but as a captain of the team. He was the quintessential cool minded captain that India required. He performed when it was most required. In the final, when India had lost Sachin, Sehwag and Kohli early, Dhoni stepped up with Gambhir and scored an unbeaten 91 runs to take the team across the line against Sri Lanka. Before the final, Dhoni had scored 31, 34, 19*, 12*, 22, 7 and 25 in the World Cup and was not looking in the best of form. But he promoted himself ahead of Yuvraj to take the responsibility. These are the signs of a Champion captain.

Zaheer Khan: Bowlers from around the world complain that they do not get the due credit in cricket. From England’s score of 281/2 to 285/5, the difference was Zaheer Khan. If not for his priced wickets of Stauss, Bell and Collingwood, India would have lost the game against England. He was the highest wicket-taker in the competition. Zaheer was the spear-head of India’s bowling attack.

So these were the four players without whom the World Cup 2011 win would have been just a dream. Some might disagree and say that some other players too deserved to be in the list, but no ne can argue that these four players were not essential in India’s win in the 2011 World Cup.