On 2 April 2011, MS Dhoni lofted Nuwan Kulasekara for six at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, to help India win their first World Cup since 1983, and their second in history. India won seven of their nine matches in the tournament. They lost only to South Africa, while the match against England ended in a tie. Here are some lesser-known facts from India’s win.
Beating every world champion: India won their last four matches of the tournament. This included West Indies in a league match in Chennai, Australia in the quarterfinal in Ahmedabad, Pakistan in the semifinal in Mohali, and Sri Lanka in the final in Mumbai. In the process they beat every team (other than India themselves, of course) to have won the World Cup. In fact, they beat them in the order in which they had won their first respective World Cups. No other team has achieved this bizarre feat since 1983.
First team to win at home: At Wankhede that night, India became the first ever team to win a World Cup final on home soil. The previous winners were West Indies (Lord’s, 1975 and 1979); India (Lord’s, 1983); Australia (Eden Gardens, 1987, Lord’s, 1999, The Wanderers, 2003, and Kensington Oval, 2007); Pakistan (MCG, 1992); and Sri Lanka (Gaddafi Stadium, 1996), Interestingly, starting 2011, the hosts have won the respective finals (Australia at the MCG in 2015, England at Lord’s in 2019).
Yuvraj’s double: Despite battling cancer, Yuvraj Singh pulled off one of the most phenomenal performances in World Cup history (362 runs at 90.50, strike rate 86; 15 wickets at 25.13, economy 5.02; 9 catches). No other cricketer has done the 300-run-15-wicket double in the same edition.
Sehwag’s streak: Virender Sehwag began India’s tournament with a four off the first ball, against Bangladesh at Mirpur. He repeated this in the next four matches, against England, Ireland (both in Bengaluru), Netherlands (Delhi), and South Africa (Nagpur).
Defeating a centurion: Despite scoring a sublime 103 not out, Mahela Jayawardene found himself on the losing side in the final. This remains the only instance of a team losing a World Cup final despite having a centurion in the side.