World Cup-winning captains: 1975-2015

8 MS Dhoni (2011)

Winning Captain's Press Conference - 2011 ICC World Cup

The 2011 World Cup hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, was touted as the tournament in which India's long wait for their 2nd title was going to come to an and the man tasked with fulfilling that dream was MS Dhoni.

Having already led India to the World T20 title in 2007, hopes were high and under him, he had a team that he moulded over a period of 4 years. India started well but defeat to South Africa and a high scoring tied game against England made matters a bit tense. However, there were no alarms as India reached the next stage. Throughout the tournament, Dhoni's captaincy was always spot on. He used Yuvraj Singh's spin bowling brilliantly to nullify the absence of a specialist 5th bowler.

Ahead of the quarter-final, Suresh Raina was brought back into the side and he proved vital in both the quarter-final against Australia and the semi-final against Pakistan in Mohali. However, it was in the final that Dhoni really came into his own. After the loss of three wickets and with just over 160 needed to win, Dhoni came in at number 5 instead of Yuvraj. What looked like a gamble was actually a well thought out move.

Dhoni thought he could dominate the Sri Lankan spinners, especially Murali and that is exactly what happened as he clubbed 91 off 79 (8 fours and 2 sixes) in the company of Gautam Gambhir (97) and then Yuvraj. Dhoni's winning six to bring up the victory in the 49th over remains one of the greatest moments in Indian cricket history.