April 2 is a date that all cricket fans in India will remember for the rest of their lives. On this day in 2011, India won the ICC ODI World Cup after a 28-year wait. MS Dhoni star-studded team beat Sri Lanka at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium to repeat what Kapil’s Devils had done for the first time in 1983.
MS Dhoni was a big reason why they won the final, and he finished it off with a huge six off of Nuwan Kulasekara. This shot is one of the most famous in Indian cricket history.
As emotions ran high, every cricket fan in India, especially those who liked Dhoni, wanted to get a closer look at the bat he used to pull off one of the biggest moments in Indian cricket. So, in July 2011, the bat was put up for auction, where it sold for a huge 100,000 pounds, which is about 72 lakhs in Indian money. The money went to help people through the work of Dhoni’s charity foundation.
India’s longtime World Cup dream came true thanks to MS Dhoni and Gambhir.
Kumar Sangakkara decided to bat first because the toss of the coin put him in the lead. Meanwhile, Zaheer Khan helped India do a great powerplay. Upul Tharanga was out early in Sri Lanka’s turn, and Zaheer got rid of him. Even though Tillakaratne Dilshan and captain Kumar Sangakkara made important contributions of 33 and 48 runs, respectively, to the innings, it was Mahela Jayawardene’s brilliant unbeaten century that stole the show. Jayawardene got 103* off of 88 balls, which helped Sri Lanka reach a total of 274/6.
India had to get 275 runs to win, but Malinga caught opener Virender Sehwag on the very first ball of their inning. Gautam Gambhir, a top-order left-handed batter, did a great job with a 97-run knock that put India in a strong position. With Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, Gambhir was able to stop the early loss of wickets. Then, he and MS Dhoni put together a 109-run partnership before Thisara Perera bowled him out. There were nine fours in his innings.
MS Dhoni then took control of the game by hitting six fours and two sixes, which not only stopped the wickets from falling at one end but also sped up the chase. Dhoni made an unbeaten 91, and he and Yuvraj Singh, who was named Man of the Series, made a 54-run unbeaten stand. Yuvraj Singh stayed unbeaten at 21.