Even after 13 years, the memories of India winning the 2011 World Cup are as fresh as if they happened only yesterday. MS Dhoni hitting the winning six, Ravi Shastri getting all ecstatic in the dressing, an emotional Sachin Tendulkar failing to hold back his tears and the young and dynamic Virat Kohli dropping that gem of a line about the Master Blaster. That India became the first team to win a 50-over World Cup at home set a new trend. Surprisingly enough, that same Playing XI never played another ODI for India together, but what they achieved on that night at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium truly remains epic and one that won’t ever be forgotten whenever the Indian cricketing folklore is discussed.
Gautam Gambhir, now the head coach of the Indian team, scored the highest with 97, whereas captain Dhoni was spectacular on the night of the final with an unbeaten 91. Zaheer Khan emerged as the leading wicket-taker with 21 scalps, while Tendulkar scored the most runs. However, the Player of the Tournament was won by Yuvraj Singh. The former Indian cricketer scored 362 runs and picked up 15 wickets with a terrific all-rounder show. It was all the more special because the world would later find out, Yuvraj battled cancer en route to winning the World Cup for his country.
But do you know… Yuvraj nearly did not play the World Cup. Yes, in a startling revelation made by former India coach Gary Kirsten, Yuvraj's form leading up to the World Cup was dodgy, and the BCCI selection panel, headed by Kris Srikkanth, was pondering leaving Yuvraj out of the World Cup. However, Dhoni and Kirsten trusted their instincts about Yuvraj and convinced the selection panel.
"Thank goodness we picked him because it was flipping close, he was. It was not a slam-dunk selection. The selectors kind of debated around the 15 players. I was very keen to have him in the team, as was Dhoni, because of the experience that he brought to the group. And look at the World Cup he ended up having," Kirsten told Rediff.com.
Gary Kirsten on what Yuvraj Singh was like
{{/usCountry}}"Thank goodness we picked him because it was flipping close, he was. It was not a slam-dunk selection. The selectors kind of debated around the 15 players. I was very keen to have him in the team, as was Dhoni, because of the experience that he brought to the group. And look at the World Cup he ended up having," Kirsten told Rediff.com.
Gary Kirsten on what Yuvraj Singh was like
{{/usCountry}}Kisten is right to a certain extent. In the one-year period before the World Cup, Yuvraj’s bat wasn’t firing the way it had in the 2007 World Cup or well, the way it used to. In South Africa, Yuvraj scored 91 runs from 5 ODIs against South Africa, and 120 in four matches against New Zealand at home prior to it. Between January 2010 to February 19, 2011, Yuvraj had totalled 440 runs from 20 ODIs, with just three half-centuries. Thankfully, saner heads prevailed, and the BCCI stuck by Yuvraj. Kirsten opened up on his experience with Yuvraj, and credited Team India’s then-mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton for turning things around.
"I was always very fond of Yuvraj. We had this kind of great relationship where like, he used to frustrate the hell out of me sometimes, but I just loved him. He was good. I just want him to be scoring runs all the time because when I watch him bat, it's just like amazing to watch. But there was a journey he had to walk, and credit to Paddy," added Kirsten.
"Paddy did a lot of work with Yuvi to get him ready for that World Cup. Yuvi himself made some key decisions around getting himself prepared and ready for the World Cup."