7 memorable moments from India's 2011 World Cup triumph

The 2011 World Cup win will remain a watershed moment in India’s one-day cricket history for years to come. Collective performances from individuals throughout the tournament helped MS Dhoni and Co., lift the coveted title that had eluded them after coming so close to it 8 years ago at Johannesburg, South Africa.The campaign had several memorable moments that will be remembered for a long time.Here are the top 7:

#1 Dhoni-Gambhir stand

Till then, only one team in the history of the 50-over World Cup had won the title chasing a target, and that was Sri Lanka in 1996.

On 2nd of April 2011, India went on to become the second team to do so.

Set to chase 275 in front of a packed Wankhede crowd, India had the worst possible start when they lost Virender Sehwag for a second ball duck. It got even worse when Sachin Tendulkar fell for 18, leaving the home team shakily placed at 30 for 2. The onus was now on Gautam Gambhir, and he along with Virat Kohli began the rescue act. Gambhir was playing a measured innings, scoring the odd boundary and knocking off ones and twos on other occasions. The duo put on 84 for the third wicket before Kohli was dismissed for 35.

No one expected to see what happened next. Instead of an in-form Yuvraj Singh, skipper MS Dhoni walked out at number 5.

It was up to the duo now to help India win the final, and they did just that: adding 109 runs for the 4th wicket to get India just 52 runs short of the target, before Gambhir was unluckily bowled on 97 – 3 short of a deserving ton.

Dhoni, in the company of the eventual Man-of-the-Tournament Yuvraj Singh, finished off the match as India won the final with 10 balls to spare.

The iconic six by the Indian captain, who finished on 91 not out, to win the final will be in the memories of an Indian cricket fan for a very long time to come.

#2 Yuvraj Singh-Suresh Raina stand

Chasing a total of 260, following Ricky Ponting’s 30th ODI hundred, India had reached 187 for 4 when the 5th wicket – of that of Dhoni – fell for 7. They still needed 73 off 76 balls in front of a full house in Ahmedabad to book a place in the semi-final. Tendulkar had played a solid innings before getting out on 52.

In-walked Suresh Raina at number 7 to join Yuvraj. Playing his first game of the campaign, Raina provided terrific support to Yuvraj in the middle and displayed immense maturity in tackling the Australian pacers.The duo, slowly but steadily, started to gain control over the match, scoring a boundary or a six when needed and picking ones and twos on a regular basis.

Yuvraj sealed the win with a four off Brett Lee to finish on 57 not out as India won convincingly in the end with 14 balls to spare.

#3 Harbhajan\'s wicket of Umar Akmal

Many felt at the end of India’s first innings in the semi-final against Pakistan at Mohali that they were probably 10-15 runs short. The Men in Blue had a tough task at hand when they came out to bowl, defending 260 under the lights.

Pakistan started off well but soon found themselves in trouble at 103 for 4 when Younis khan – their most experienced player and easily their best bet to handle Indian spin bowlers – fell. In walked youngster Umar Akmal and from the word go, it seemed as if he was looking to smash the Indian bowlers to all corners of the ground and take the match away.

India needed to get rid off him early to keep alive any hopes of winning. A crucial drinks break halted Akmal’s assault, following which Dhoni brought on trusted off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.

Much to the team’s relief, the Turbanator got rid off the younger Akmal, sliding in the quicker one to knock the stumps off.

He got rid off another danger man Shahid Afridi pretty quickly, too, playing a crucial role in his team entering the final with a 29-run win over the arch-rivals.

#4 Zaheer\'s twin spell

India were in trouble of losing their group match to England despite putting up a massive 337 all out at the end of their 50 overs.

England were comfortably placed at 280 for 2 when the batting Powerplay was taken. Zaheer Khan was brought back into the attack, and the left-arm pacer got India back into the game by picking wickets off consecutive deliveries to bring the match back on an even keel.

India continued to pick up wickets at regular intervals as England looked like they would implode after an excellent run chase. However, some late hitting from their tail helped them end the match in a thrilling tie. As for India, it was Zaheer who played a key role in ensuring a loss was prevented.

Not many cricket fans can forget Zaheer’s first over in the 2003 World Cup final at the Wanderers. He gave away 15 runs in the first over of that final.

Heading into the final of 2011, India needed their spearhead to put in a much better opening spell than what he did that day, and he did just that. Not conceding a single run in his first 3 overs, he also picked up the all-important wicket of Upul Tharanga in his 4th over, thereby providing the team with the ideal start. He came back later on to pick up the wicket of Angelo Mathews.

And let’s not forget the knuckle ball that got rid of Michael Hussey in the quarter-finals.

#5 Virender Sehwag\'s 100 in first match

In India‘s World Cup campaign of 2011, their first match was against Bangladesh who had defeated them embarrassingly in their previous World cup face-off, in 2007.

However, the scenes this time around turned out to be different as Sehwag smashed a magnificent 175 to help India register a mammoth 370 for 4 in their first innings.

Sehwag scored a boundary off the very first ball of that World cup and hammered every Bangladesh bowler to all corners of the Sher-e-Bangla stadium in Dhaka, hitting 14 fours and 5 massive sixes.

It was just the beginning India needed to kick start their campaign; they went on to win the match by 87 runs.

Virat Kohli also scored his first World cup hundred in the match.

#6 Yuvraj v Ireland and West Indies

Before the tournament began, few would have given the match between India and Ireland any real significance.

But come the big day, India knew they couldn't take the Irishmen lightly as they had inflicted a shocking defeat on England. To add to it, the MS Dhoni-led team weren’t at their best during their group stages, as well.

Chasing a mere 208 to win under the lights at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, India found themselves at 87 for 3 when Yuvraj waked in. In the company of Kohli first and Dhoni later, the southpaw started to rebuild the innings again.

Having taken 5 wickets in Ireland’s first innings, Yuvraj backed it up with a crucial 50 not out in the chase as India won the game by 5 wickets with 4 overs to spare.

In doing so, he also became the first cricketer to achieve the double of scoring a 50 and taking 5 wickets in a World Cup game.

India, again, found themselves in a spot of bother, against West Indies, having lost both Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir early in their final group game. Yuvraj, with his 113 off 123, helped his team recover and set up a challenging target of 269. The Caribbean outfit lost their track after an impressive start, losing their last 8 wickets for 34 runs to be dismissed for 188.

#7 Sachin Tendulkar\'s twin hundreds

It just can’t be complete without mentioning Tendulkar’s twin hundreds that he scored in the campaign.

The first of those came in a World Cup group game at Bangalore where he smashed the England bowlers to all corners to score his 120. This century was also significant, as it was his fifth century in World Cup cricket: a record in the tournament’s history.

The second of his two hundreds came against South Africa in Nagpur. The one shot in that innings that is remembered even today is the hook he played off Dale Steyn. It was also the Little Master’s 99th ton in all forms of international cricket.

As a side note, India didn’t go on to win either of those games, and it kind of left a bittersweet feeling among the Indian fans.