The 2nd of April, 2011 stays one in all the most wonderful days in India’s historical past. MS Dhoni smashed Nuwan Kulasekara for a six to seal a historic victory and greater than a billion folks went into ecstasy. There was euphoria with tens of 1000’s celebrating exterior the Wankhede dancing on Marine Drive and tens of millions of others going completely delirious throughout the size and breadth of the nation until the wee hours of the morning.
We look again at 5 essential performances for India from the ultimate in Mumbai.
1. ZAHEER KHAN’S BRILLIANT OPENING SPELL
Zaheer Khan bowled a brilliantly restrictive spell with the new ball which didn’t enable Sri Lanka to get away to a flying begin. He gave away simply 6 runs and bowled as many as 3 maidens in his first 5 overs additionally selecting the wicket of Upul Tharanga.
25 of his first 30 deliveries had been dot balls – contemplating that this was the interval of the obligatory powerplay with two of the finest batsmen of the match at the crease – this was an exceptional effort by Zaheer and went a great distance in making certain that Sri Lanka didn’t find yourself with a 300-plus whole.
A Walk Along Marine Drive After the Win – 2011 World Cup Win Through the Eyes of the Selectors
2. KOHLI – ABSORBING PRESSURE OF EARLY WICKETS
Virat Kohli was simply settling into his ODI profession and thus his contribution and what he did for India in the 2011 World Cup went largely unnoticed. In the ultimate towards Sri Lanka, he got here out to bat at 31 for two with India in big bother when Tendulkar was dismissed. Not solely was there panic and rigidity in the dressing room however there was gloom inside the stadium. This made Kohli’s job harder however he rose to the problem. He made a vital 35 off 49 deliveries and paired with Gambhir to resurrect the Indian innings placing collectively a match-changing 83 for the third wicket. The momentum swung in India’s favour and so they by no means seemed again.
This skill to soak up the stress of early wickets and rebuilding an innings gave a glimpse of his character, dedication and resolve. It was not the first time that Kohli had received India out of bother in the match. From 21 for two, he had partnered with Tendulkar and stabilized the Indian innings with a affected person 34 off 53 deliveries towards an Ireland crew that had upset England. He had then resurrected the Indian innings from 8 for 1 (which had worsened to 51 for two) towards the West Indies including 122 with Yuvraj Singh.
3. GAMBHIR – BIG-MATCH TEMPERAMENT AND MR CONSISTENT
Gautam Gambhir’s efficiency in the ultimate typically will get overshadowed by the heroics of Dhoni however to top-score with the bat on two events for India in a World Cup ultimate (he had scored 75 off 54 deliveries in the WT20 Final towards
Pakistan in Johannesburg in 2007) spoke volumes of his big-match temperament and skill – the high quality to provide your finest on the greatest levels.
Gambhir really gave the next influence efficiency with the bat than Dhoni in the ultimate. According to Impact Index, he had a 4% greater Batting Impact than Dhoni. The left-hander registered 4 fifties, one thirty and three scores between 20 and 30 in the match and was India’s most constant batsman in the World Cup.
4. DHONI’S MASTERSTROKE TO PROMOTE HIMSELF
MS Dhoni was in very poor kind in the World Cup stepping into the ultimate. He had aggregated simply 150 runs in 7 innings at a mean of 30 and strike fee of 69.44. He hadn’t scored a single 40-plus rating in the match. Neither was he getting any vital scores nor was he producing these cameos.
In distinction, Yuvraj Singh was in wonderful kind and had principally batted at 4 or 5 in the match. Thus, at 114 for 3, when Dhoni promoted himself forward of the in-form Yuvraj, it raised quite a lot of eyebrows and there have been murmurs of what a ‘terrible’ determination it was. The relaxation is historical past. Dhoni gambled, took a calculated danger and it paid off. But there was a rationale and cricketing acumen behind his determination as was later revealed. Having had the expertise of going through the two premier Sri Lankan bowlers – Malinga and Muralitharan – in the nets for CSK in the IPL, Dhoni promoted himself to counter any risk from them in the center overs. In specific, he needed to sort out Muralitharan who could have posed some drawback to Yuvraj taking the ball away from him.
It turned out to be a masterstroke!
5) YUVRAJ HAD ALMOST THE SAME IMPACT WITH THE BALL
Yuvraj Singh – the man with the golden arm in the World Cup – broke two partnerships at important junctures in the ultimate. He removed Sri Lanka’s finest batsman – Sangakkara – ending a threatening 62-run third-wicket stand between him and Jayawardene earlier than returning to entice Samaraweera simply when Sri Lanka seemed set to go for the kill in the loss of life.
Yuvraj displayed this knack of selecting wickets of massive opposition batsmen at essential levels in the match all through the match. He had bagged the wickets of Asad Shafiq and Younis Khan in successive overs in the semi-final altering the match on its head. Overall, he picked 15 wickets from 9 matches and was India’s second-highest wicket-taker behind Zaheer Khan.
This, coupled together with his batting (362 runs in 8 innings together with 4 fifties and 100) made him the highest influence participant of the match. Interestingly, his Bowling Impact was virtually as excessive as his Batting Impact in the World Cup!
