Cricket World Cup 2011: Dhoni and Gambhir Send a Billion People into Ecstasy

"Captain Cool" Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir guided Team India to their second World Cup triumph, 28 years after Kapil’s Devils won it at Lords in 1983.

In doing so, Dhoni and Co. instigated a new era of dominance in World Cricket, one that bleeds blue—or light blue, should I say.

Australia have been the cream of the crop for more than a decade and India have officially dethroned them, similar to the way in which the 1983 team had defied all odds and ended the West Indies’ reign over the gentleman’s sport.

What transpired at the Wankhede stadium in South Mumbai on Saturday was the true stuff of champions, as India battled to victory after being put through the grind for most of the match. Nothing came easy for them, right from the toss.

The day had begun in somewhat strange circumstances as Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara’s call of “heads” was drowned out by the crowd and the toss had to be re-done after both captains claimed they had won it.

Sangakkara got it right the second time around and elected to bat first on a pitch that promised runs in both innings.

Indian spearhead Zaheer Khan (60-2) got off to a brilliant start with figures of 6-1 in his first five overs, including three maidens and the wicket of Upul Tharanga (2).

Tillakaratne Dilshan (33) and Sangakkara (48) steadied the ship and scored 43 before Harbhajan Singh bowled the former with the score on 60-2 in the 17th over.

That brought in Mahela Jayawardene to partner his skipper and guide the Lankan’s through—and guide they did!

Sangakkara and Jayawardene slowly got the run-rate up as they watchfully manoeuvred the Indian spinners and attacked an out-of-sorts Sreesanth (52-0).

The pair shared a stand of 62 before the in-form Yuvraj Singh (49-2) bowled and Sangakarra edged the ball to Dhoni for the catch.

Upon his captain’s departure, Jayawardene stepped up to the occasion as he beautifully crafted his innings around the rest of the team. As Nuwan Kulasekara (32) and Thisara Perera (22) kept the scoring up at one end, Jayawardene played one of the classiest innings of his career as he became the sixth man to score a century in a World Cup final.

Jayawardene hardly played a violent shot until the batting powerplay was enforced in the final five overs of the innings, taking Sri Lanka to an above-par 274-6. He remained not-out and finished on 103 from 84 balls.

It was no 359-2 like the 2003 final had been, but it was still a daunting task under lights nonetheless—one would have thought that India’s hopes would have been in their two swashbuckling openers Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar.

However, Lasith Malinga (42-2), who has terrorised opponents with his “slingers” all tournament long, trapped Sehwag in-front on the second ball of the innings.

Tendulkar (18) played a couple of confident strokes before playing a nothing shot to Sangakkara off the bowling of Malinga. The Little Master’s dream of completing his century of 100s in a World Cup final was over and so were the hopes of millions of fans across the nation.

From that moment, it was up to the young brigade of Indian cricketers to prove their mettle on the big stage.

Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli stepped up to the platform as they stabilized the run-chase with a brisk 83-run partnership that took India past the 100-run mark, without the loss of any more wickets.

It took an outstanding caught-and-bowled by Dilshan (27-1) to get rid of Kohli (35) in the 22nd over—a wicket that brought in captain M.S. Dhoni.

Dhoni had decided to promote himself up the order after a rather mediocre World Cup with the bat (150 runs in seven innings) and thus the onus was on him to take India to the finish line.

Dhoni (91*) and Gambhir (97) compiled a superb fourth-wicket stand of 109 that reduced the equation to 52 runs required from 53 balls.

Then, Gambhir did what he’s been doing so successfully throughout this tournament—he threw his wicket away.

The man from Delhi stepped out to thrash Perera (55-1) through the covers, but could only edge the delivery on to the stumps.

Gambhir, as a result, missed out on a World Cup final hundred by three runs. However, he had still more importantly guided India to the threshold of victory.

Yuvraj Singh entered to finish the job off alongside his skipper. Together, the duo took India to within 30 runs of the target, with the final five batting powerplay overs to play.

The batting powerplay had been India’s weak spot in the tournament so far and the Lankans looked to exploit that with one last throw of the dice as Sangakarra brought on Malinga.

The frizzy-haired Lankan bowled tightly to his credit, but the Indians attacked Kulasekara (64-0) at the other end as Dhoni brought up the victory with a massive slog over long-on for six to spark off delirious celebrations across the country.

Dhoni’s innings included a perfect mix of aggression and vigilance and was a true captain’s knock—one that was long overdue. What better moment to pick than a World Cup final? He can now boast of having won every tournament there is as captain—the IPL, the Champions League, the Asia Cup, the T20 and the 50-over World Cups.

But trust Dhoni to be as humble as a lamb even after the frenzy that will follow this famous win.

The Indians deservedly won—a fact that was acknowledged by Sangakkara in the postmatch ceremony. The team dedicated the win to Sachin Tendulkar and whenever the little master does decide to hang up his boots, he will know that this young India is ready to lift the burden off his shoulders and carry his legacy forward.

Scores:

Sri Lanka 274-6 in 50 overs (Jayawardene 103*, Sangakkara 48, Yuvraj 49-2)

India 277-4 in 48.2 overs (Gambhir 97, Dhoni 91*, Kohli 35)

Result: India won by 6 wickets.

Man of the Match: MS Dhoni

Man of the Tournament: Yuvraj Singh (352 runs, 16 wickets)