11 Man of the Match performances in 11 World Cup Finals

#10 MS Dhoni - 91 versus Sri Lanka - 2011 World Cup Final

This is arguably the most iconic image in the history of Indian cricket

India and Sri Lanka were both pre-tournament favourites in the 2011 World Cup. Both reached the finals in contrasting manners.

After the solving the toss fiasco, Sri Lanka won the toss and Kumar Sangakkara decided to bat first against India. Zaheer was at his aggressive best as he bowled immaculate lines to the openers and dismissed Upul Tharanga in the process.

Once captain Sangakkara joined Mahela Jayawardene after Dilshan's dismissal, the duo looked largely untroubled by Indian bowling.

Jayawardene was looking in great touch and notched up a classy unbeaten 103. Thisara Perera's lusty blows towards the end helped Sri Lanka reach a formidable total of 275 for 6.

India looked all at sea when they lost their two best batsmen inside the first seven overs. Sehwag and Sachin were dismissed by Malinga for 0 and 18 respectively with India struggling at 31 for 2.

Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir started to rebuild the innings with Gambhir taking calculative risks and Kohli playing second fiddle. After Kohli was dismissed for a well made 35, captain MS Dhoni took the centre-stage.

Gambhir was well-set with a gritty 50 and MS Dhoni slowly started building his inning. Dhoni was particularly aggressive against the off-spin duo of Murali and Suraj Randiv, hitting some powerful backfoot cover drives and square cuts.

He controlled the situation and ensured the run-rate never got out of control. When India needed 30 off 22 balls, he used the long handle to good effect and struck three boundaries in quick succession. With 4 needed off 11 balls, Dhoni hit an iconic six which is etched in every Indian fan's memory.

Even though Gambhir made a domesticated 97, it was Dhoni's masterly 91 of 79 balls with 9 boundaries and 2 sixes which had the maximum impact and earned him a MoM award.