Cricket World Cup History: 7 greatest finals of all time

#4 2011: A World Cup for a man and a billion people

Sachin relished his dream of winning a WC after 22 years

After an early exit in the 2007 World Cup, India were determined to lift the trophy in 2011 as they were co-hosting the tournament. With Sachin Tendulkar playing his sixth and final World Cup, the entire nation wanted to win the cup for one man.

But it wasn't easy in the final, as Mahela Jayawardena brought all his class to craft a brilliant century off just 88 balls to post a stiff target of 275. Despite losing their talismanic openers, Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli kept the chase alive with timely boundaries. After Kohli's dismissal, Mahendra Singh Dhoni stepped up to play one of the best captain's knock ever.

He came up the order just on a simple premise that he could handle Muttiah Muralitharan better than the left-handed Yuvraj Singh. He finished with 91 off 79 deliveries as his iconic six off Nuwan Kulasekara is still etched in the memories of a billion people.