You can freeze the frame — Mahendra Singh Dhoni holding aloft the ICC ODI World Cup at the Wankhede Stadium. Fireworks created dazzling patterns in the night sky, the ground was bathed in colourful confetti, and the crowd roared in appreciation.
Inspired by maestro Sachin Tendulkar and powered by the game-changing Yuvraj Singh, India regained the World Cup after 28 years. The fragrance of success filled the air and the whole of India celebrated on April 2, 2011.
Contrast this memorable vignette with the images of destruction in England where India was blanked 4-0 in the Test series. Add them to the recent memories of an Indian batting collapse on the decisive fourth day of the first Test down under in Melbourne.
The message was loud and clear. While India remains a formidable force on home soil in any form of the game, it can be vulnerable on pitches with seam movement and bounce and in conditions encouraging swing.
Mixed year
This, indeed, was a mixed year for India. While a World Cup triumph is a significant achievement, there were worrying signs for the country in the longer version of the game.
Yet, no batsman made more runs in Tests during the year than Rahul Dravid — 1145 from 12 matches at 57.25. Dravid's technical attributes, powers of concentration and his commitment came to the fore as he built monuments in the West Indies, England and India.
Constructing five centuries during the year, Dravid became only the second batsman in the game's history to cross 13,000 runs in Tests. The flexibility of his feet movement — the solidity of his back-foot play holds the key — and the manner he used the depth of the crease to create room and shorten the length elevated the levels of his batsmanship.
When the delivery was pitched up, Dravid's front foot invariably took him to the pitch of the ball. The gaps were found clinically.
No Indian batsman was more sure of himself in the corridor, and none handled the good length deliveries that would have gone on to hit the top of off stump better — Dravid adjusts his backlift according to the nature of the surface.
Even as the Indian batting crumbled, the erudite cricketer made three centuries in the Old Blighty. Another one of his hundreds came on a tricky Sabina Park surface of dual bounce.
Dravid's feats notwithstanding, England displaced India as the No. 1 in Tests.
Led capably by Andrew Strauss, England appeared a complete team with a strong top-order, a capable middle-order and an incisive bowling unit. And it had crucial depth in batting where the likes of Matt Prior, Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann could take the game away from the opposition.
James Anderson — he grabbed 35 wickets at 24.85 from seven Tests during the year — enhanced his claims for being the finest swing bowler in the world. A strong wrist position at the time of release and late swing marked his bowling.
The batsmen invariably found it hard to pick the direction of movement; Anderson moved the sphere both ways and cleverly mixed his length. He was ably supported by the speed and lift of Broad and Bresnen.
Left-handed opener Alistair Cook — he scored 927 runs in eight Tests at a whopping 84.27 — was another source of strength for England.
Bell dazzles
And Ian Bell, light of feet and brave of heart, dazzled with 950 runs at 118.75 from eight matches. It was not surprising that England had also sealed the Ashes 3-1.
Later in the year, Australia had a new skipper in Michael Clarke but suffered some embarrassing batting failures; the side was blown away for 47 by South Africa in Cape Town.
With several greats of the past drifting away, the line-up was susceptible to quality swing. Australia, though, has a promising bunch of young pacemen led by James Pattison.
India also found a paceman with speed, movement and possibilities in Umesh Yadav. Among the spinners, Ravichandran Ashwin and Pragjan Ojha formed a potent off-spin — left-arm spin combination against the West Indies at home but stiffer tests await both.
The experienced Harbhajan Singh scalped his 400th Test batsman in Dominica against the West Indies — a depleted India won the away series 1-0 — but a form slump cost the off-spinner his place in the team.
Old soldier Tendulkar still whipped up moments of magic but increasing media scrutiny on his impending 100th international century, perhaps, put the great batsman under too much stress.
And Virender Sehwag raised the bar for batsmanship in ODI cricket. His explosive 219 against the West Indies at Indore — the innings once again showcased his ability to essay shots of various hues with a still head despite limited footwork — was the highest individual score in ODIs.
