Since 1983, when Kapil Dev held the World Cup aloft, the Indian cricket fan’s nostalgia peaked once every four years. That historic day - June 25 - at Lord’s was inevitably relived ahead of subsequent World Cups and it was time to hope that the Cup would be seized again.
It proved to be a long wait until M.S. Dhoni smote Nuwan Kulasekara for a six at a delirious Wankhede Stadium on April 2, 2011. If 1983 was about an India still nursing growing-up pangs, 2011 reflected a ‘we-can-compete’ attitude that sprung up because of the maturing of a nation and a liberalised economy.
The narrative about making up for past foibles was enacted immediately once the World Cup commenced at the Sher E Bangla Stadium in Mirpur. Virender Sehwag’s 175 left Bangladesh reeling. India had not forgotten the scars suffered after losing to Bangladesh at the 2007 event in the Caribbean.
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Balm secured and winning start savoured, it was time to move on though the tie against England (both teams scored 338) in Bengaluru (Bangalore then) lent a sobering touch. India nudged aside Ireland and the Netherlands, lost to South Africa, in a match that witnessed the last of Sachin Tendulkar’s great knocks (111) before Dale Steyn (five for 50) and the visiting batsmen helped their skipper Graeme Smith have the last laugh.
The failure at Nagpur proved to be an aberration as India peaked at the right time. The West Indies was conquered and Dhoni’s men were in the quarterfinals. A fine batting line-up and a bowling unit led by Zaheer Khan meshed well. The X-factor came through Yuvraj Singh, who exhibited game-controlling skills with an aggressive bat and stifling spin. Despite his private battle with cancer, the southpaw revealed the fierce focus that the entire team exhibited.
India was on a roll. Defending champion Australia was stumped at Ahmedabad. The political acoustics around a Mohali semifinal against Pakistan were ignored. In the final, after Mahela Jayawardene’s unbeaten 103 and Lasith Malinga’s twin-strike nailed Sehwag and Tendulkar to leave Sri Lanka on a pedestal, Gautam Gambhir (97) and Dhoni (91 n.o.) knocked it down and India walked away with cricket’s biggest prize.
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The triumph was a fine exposition of experience that came to the fore through Tendulkar’s 482 runs, Zaheer’s 21 wickets and ‘Player of the tournament’ Yuvraj’s 362 runs and 15 wickets at an economy rate of 5.02. It was also a tribute to the efforts of the unheralded members, be it a Munaf Patel (11 wickets) or a Suresh Raina, who when drafted into the eleven against Australia, performed under pressure.
Above all, it was a reiteration of Dhoni’s credentials as a fine skipper in limited-over cricket. His generosity was evident when he allowed Tendulkar to hold centre-stage in the post-final festivities. An ecstatic team, a thrilled patriarch and a nation on cloud nine — you couldn’t have asked for more.