On this day India won 2011 ODI World Cup: Where are the world champions now? Know complete details

“Dhoni finishes off in style. A magnificent strike into the crowd! India lift the World Cup after 28 years!”

Ravi Shastri etched his name forever in the annals of commentary gold.

It’s been 14 years since India ended the 28-year wait. At 31/2 in the 7th over of the chase, India’s hope of winning the title was in the balance. Gautam Gambhir and the 22-year old Virat Kohli steadied the ship. MS Dhoni, despite scoring just 150 runs until the final, came ahead of Yuvraj Singh, backing himself to take on the wily Muthiah Muralidaran. The rest is history.

MS Dhoni led an incredibly talented 15-member squad full of youth and Experience. On one side, it had the legendary opening duo of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, ably supported by the youthful Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina. Harbhajan Singh’s experience was complemented by R Ashwin’s freshness. Left-armers Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra on one side and Right-armers Munaf Patel and Sreesanth on the other.

The 15 players are still contributing to the game of cricket – not only as players, but also as coaches, mentors and commentators.

Men in Yellow

MS Dhoni led the Indian team in the 2015 ODI World Cup and played under Virat Kohli’s captaincy in the 2019 edition. The heartbreaking loss to New Zealand in the semi-final of 2019 world cup turned out to be Dhoni’s last international match. He confirmed his retirement a year later. However, he continues to mesmerise the fans across the country, by playing Indian Premier League matches for Chennai Super Kings. The iconic leader even managed to win 2 IPL titles as captain post his international retirement.

R Ashwin had 21 International wickets when Dhoni lifted the trophy in 2011. He went on to take 744 more wickets and announced his international retirement last December. He has returned to Chennai Super Kings after 10 years and resumed his association with Dhoni.

Coaches

Gautam Gambhir, the chief architect of the 2011 final, became the head coach of Indian Cricket Team in 2024. He coached the team to a dominating Champions Trophy victory last month.

Ashish Nehra, affectionately called as Nehra-ji, is the head coach of Gujarat Titans. Gujarat Titans lifted the IPL trophy in 2022 under Nehra’s tutelage.

Munaf Patel works as the bowling coach of Delhi Capitals.

Key performers to Mentors

Sachin Tendulkar, the top-scorer for India in the 2011 WC with 482 runs, commentates during major ICC events. He is also the Mentor of Mumbai Indians.

Yuvraj Singh, the player of the tournament, is instrumental in the growth of young Indian opener Abhishek Sharma.

Zaheer Khan, the leading wicket-taker of the tournament, is the mentor of Lucknow Super Giants.

Commentators-cum-experts

Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, S Sreesanth are all part of the commentary panel of JioStar, the official broadcaster of Indian Premier League.

Yusuf Pathan, who played a crucial knock in a tricky run-chase against Ireland, is an occasional commentator. Yusuf Pathan is a Member of Parliament, representing West Bengal’s Baharampur constituency in the Lok Sabha.

The active International cricketer

One man is still going strong with the Men in blue. Virat Kohli, the 2nd youngest member of the squad, is the only active International cricketer from the incredible squad. He won the 2013 Champions Trophy under MS Dhoni, and had to wait for almost 11 years to end the trophy drought. He retired from T20Is after winning the T20 World Cup in 2024

Virat Kohli is one of the select few cricketers to lift 4 ICC trophies. He also broke Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 ODI centuries in the 2023 ODI World cup, poetically in Mumbai, the birthplace of the great Tendulkar.