Cricket World Cup History: Ranking the top 5 batting performances in World Cup finals

#3 Gautam Gambhir’s 97 off 122 balls vs Sri Lanka, 2011

Gautam Gambhir

Gambhir came out to bat in the first over itself as Virender Sehwag departed for a golden duck and the Wankhede fell dead silent when Sachin Tendulkar was caught behind. But Gambhir kept the scoreboard ticking along with Virat Kohli to restore the hopes of a billion fans. He adopted a low-risk approach as he rotated the strike when the spinners were bowling and attacked the medium pacers efficiently to get India closer to the title.

In his partnership with Dhoni, he was ready to play second fiddle as his captain attacked from the other end. He narrowly missed a century and was dismissed for 97 but his innings steadied the ship and India were in full control of the game when he departed. To be fair, this knock is as important as Dhoni’s 91* but Gambhir’s contribution is not as fondly remembered as he could not register a hundred.