India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was ready for potential pillory after taking a couple of gambles that could have easily backfired in yesterday's World Cup final against Sri Lanka.

India plotted a new era of cricket domination today after their stunning World Cup success confirmed their status as the sport's only superpower.

The triumphant Indian cricket team has been fined for its slow over rate in the World Cup final against Sri Lanka, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said today.

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara insisted the toss mix-up that briefly threatened to engulf the World Cup final in a bizarre controversy was all a matter of a simple misunderstanding.

Dropped from the Indian team only last year, a totally transformed Yuvraj Singh turned out to be the man with the Midas touch in India's campaign to win the cricket World Cup.

The dream that kept India in a trance over the last few weeks exploded into reality. On yet another sensational Saturday, after the euphoria at Lord's in 1983, India became the first team to win the World Cup on home soil. Atreyo Mukhopadhyay reports.

It was the same team which had been embarrassed by almost everyone for its fielding during the tournament. They faced the ignominy against even the minnows of the World Cup. Sanjjeev K Samyal reports.

Gautam Gambhir was not even two years old when Kapil Dev led India to the World Cup in 1983 and trigger a new passion for the game in India. Atreyo Mukhopadhyay reports.

In the first World Cup after the explosion of Twenty20 phenomenon, some expected the face of batting in ODIs to change drastically. Amol Karhadkar reports.

Yuvraj Singh, who performed brilliantly with the bat and ball, was adjudged the Player of the Tournament while Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was named Man of the Match of the final against Sri Lanka  today.

Men who make history defy all odds. For India, it was a question of doing two things which had never happened before. No team had won the World Cup on home soil and no team had won a World Cup final chasing such a big target. Both achievements were consigned to history with Saturday's six-wicket win as 274 was surpassed with lots to spare. Atreyo Mukhopadhyay reports. Roll of honour | Turning points | Pics | Final moments | WC in numbers | Scorecard

India tonight lifted the cricket World Cup after a gap of 28 years with a six-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the summit showdown in Mumbai.

Record-breaking Sri Lanka off-spinner Muttiah Muralithran bowed out of international cricket on the losing side as India won the World Cup final by six wickets today.

Two coin tosses were necessary before the start of the World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka today when nobody including match referee Jeff Crowe appeared to hear Kumar Sangakkara's call the first time.