Indian stars from the 2011 World Cup winning team and what they are up to now

After a debacle in the 2007, 50 overs World Cup with a team featuring the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, the Indian team faced a stiff challenge of re-establishing the faith of the fans in the team. Playing the World Cup 2011 at home, captain MS Dhoni and the team management faced the tough task of selecting a team for the challenge.

Going into the World Cup, the Men in Blue were in a process of rebuilding with Dhoni at the helm of the proceedings. The squad that was announced was an expected one with a few exceptions, with the selectors playing uncertain cards choosing the likes of Munaf Patel, Ashish Nehra and Piyush Chawla, their decision paid off with Munaf as well as Nehra having a blast in the tournament.

The victory earned MS Dhoni a permanent place in the history of Indian and world cricket, building up a new team from scratch after taking over the captaincy from Rahul Dravid after the disastrous World Cup in 2007 and took the new team to win the T20 World Cup and then the World Cup in 2011. Let’s take a look at what the members from the World Cup winning team are up to now:

1. Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag, known for his unique attacking style of cricket, started the 2011 World Cup on a strong note with a knock of 175 vs Bangladesh in the opening match. He continued his good form, later scoring another useful innings of 73 vs South Africa. Sehwag finished the World Cup with a total tally of 380 runs with an average of 47.50.

After the World Cup, he continued opening for India, before runs dried off his blade and slowly other openers emerged and he played his last Test and ODI in 2013. Viru continued playing for his state Delhi and for Delhi Daredevils and later Punjab Super Kings. He announced his retirement from all forms of cricket and IPL on 20 October 2015. He is a Television commentator now and the former entertainer now has a new hobby of showing his unique sense of humor on Social Media, where he is equally aggressive with his sarcasms.

Also read- 11 Quotes by Virender Sehwag that describe his undaunted approach

2. Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar’s name, who played his last World Cup for the team and that proved to be another source of motivation for the whole team to win and dedicate the trophy to the legendary cricketer. With 482 runs, he was the second highest run-scorer in the World Cup, finishing second to Tillakaratne Dilshan of Sri Lanka who top-scored with 500 runs.

Sachin had an excellent World Cup, scoring 2 centuries against England and South Africa respectively. After winning the Cup, the master blaster said it was the proudest moment of his life.

After the tournament, he returned for the England tour in July, with a lot of hype about his 100th Test hundred, but he could manage a top score of 91 on that tour. His much-awaited century finally came against Bangladesh at Mirpur in March 2012 which was also his first ODI century against Bangladesh.

He announced his retirement from ODIs on 23 December 2012, while saying that he will be available for Test cricket. His final Test was arranged at his home ground in Mumbai. He scored 74 runs in his last Test innings against West Indies, thus falling short by 79 runs to complete 16,000 runs in Test cricket.

He continued playing for Mumbai Indians in IPL and still continues with the team as their mentor and ‘Icon’. Winner of multiple national and International honors with he being the only sportsperson to be awarded the ‘Bharat Ratna’, he now works as a cricket expert and also is involved in various charitable organizations.

Also read- 20 Famous Quotes on Sachin Tendulkar

3. Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir, another Delhi opener will forever be remembered for his match-winning knock of 97 in the finals against Sri Lanka at Wankhede, where he partnered his captain MS Dhoni to see off a stiff target of 275 in the finals. He finished the World Cup with 393 runs being the 6th highest run-scorer of the tournament.

Between 2010 and 2011, he played 25 Test innings managing only 704 runs at an average of 29.33. While runs dried for him in Tests, he had a rich run of form in the ODIs in the same period. The dry form slowly pushed him out of contention, as Shikhar Dhawan came into the picture and India experimented with the opening slot.

He made a comeback to the Test team after a long time in the last Test of the New Zealand series and scored a quick-fire half century in the second innings which helped him retain his spot for the upcoming series against England. Gautam also serves as the captain of Delhi team and Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.

Also check out- 6 Times Gautam Gambhir was involved in an altercation

4. Yuvraj Singh:

Yuvraj Singh was in the form of his life at the World Cup, winning the Player of the tournament award. He shone with both the bat and the ball, scoring 362 runs and also picking up 15 wickets in the tournament. All through the tournament, he was the ideal all-rounder Team India needed and played useful knocks at crucial stages and got wickets when then team needed it the most.

Yuvi had to undergo surgery and further treatment against cancer just after the World Cup, that forced him out of the ground. Soon after recovering he was provided with an international comeback. He played the T20 World Cup in 2014. Following a fitness program in France and has shown form and fitness in the domestic circuit. He recently scored a century for India against England in ODIs. He is currently awaiting for his chance in the Champions Trophy 2017.

5. Virat Kohli:

Virat Kohli, a youngster at the time of World Cup 2011, started strongly with an unbeaten century against Bangladesh. He later scored 35 in the final, sharing an 83-run partnership with Gambhir, finishing the tournament with a tally of 282 runs in 9 matches.

He kept growing thereon and made his Test debut in 2012 in the West Indies series, but failed to make a mark. Starting to play at No. 6 in Tests, he emerged as the batting mainstay for the team. He was elevated as the Test captain after MS Dhoni retired midway through the Australia tour in 2014, and he has led the team from the front, now being the poster boy of Indian cricket.

The entire Indian batting now revolves around him in all the three formats and the way he is playing is moving towards legend-hood. With 27 ODI and 16 Test centuries in his young career, Virat is certainly on the way to breaking a lot of batting records.

Also read- Top 10 quotes from legends of the game on why Virat Kohli is a special player

6. Mahendra Singh Dhoni:

‘Captain Cool’ has carved a place for himself in the history books with the match winning knock of 91* in the final, winning the match and the World Cup for India. He came to bat at No. 4 after Virat Kohli fell and led his team to glory. He finished the World Cup with 241 runs at an average of 48.20. With the World Cup, he added another feather to his cap, proving himself to be one of the most successful captains in Indian history.

Dhoni captained the team after the World Cup in all the formats, winning the Champions Trophy in England and leading his team to the No. 1 position in Test ranking are some of his major feats in the post-World Cup era. He retired from Test cricket in December 2014. He has proved himself to be one of the best finishers of the game. Recently, his biopic MS Dhoni: The Untold Story hit the cinema theatres and was a hit among his fans. He took the decision to leave the limited-overs captaincy ahead of the Champions Trophy 2017.

Also Watch: MS Dhoni’s funny comments caught in the Stump Mic

7. Suresh Raina:

Suresh Raina was on the bench for the first half of the world Cup and was first played in place of injured Virender Sehwag against West Indies. In the quarter-finals, Dhoni favored Raina in place of Yusuf Pathan and he responded well by assisting Yuvraj Singh in the run-chase. In the semi-final against Pakistan, he batted with the tail-enders to score an unbeaten 36, a significant contribution to India’s final tally of 260. Gary Kirsten, the then coach of India, said ‘Raina won the World Cup for us with some crucial knocks’.

He continues to play for India, currently out due to injury, but is in line to return soon. He also played for Chennai Super Kings and presently captains Gujarat Lions in the IPL. Raina has been a constant member of the Indian team after the World Cup due to his all-round abilities and for his excellence on the field.

8. Yusuf Pathan:

Yusuf Pathan had the role of a pinch-hitter in the team who had a useful hand with the ball. He played 6 matches, but could not produce much scoring only 74 runs in total and capturing 1 wicket. He played some excellent knocks just before the World Cup, raising expectations for himself but failed in the mega event.

After that, we did not see much of Pathan in the blue jersey as he now plies his trade with his home state Baroda and with Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL. Of late Yusuf has been in hot form for KKR and has taken up the role of a finisher for his team.

9. Piyush Chawla:

A surprise addition to the squad, Piyush Chawla also featured in 3 matches for the team ahead of Ravichandran Ashwin, who could make it to the squad in only 2 of the matches, he was favored with a place in the squad because of lack of a good leg-spinner. In his 3 matches, he bowled a total of 28 overs picking up 4 wickets giving 174 runs at an average of 43.50.

After the World Cup, he fell out of favor with a loss of form and emergence of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, and he last played for his national team in December 2012. He is currently playing for his state team Uttar Pradesh in the domestic circuit and vying for a return to the team, but his chances look bleak with the emergence of Amit Mishra, Axar Patel and Jayant Yadav.

10. Ravichandran Ashwin:

Ravi Ashwin was new in the team and India possessed the likes of Harbhajan Singh, thus he had limited opportunities. He played 2 matches in the tournament, picked up 4 wickets at an average of 23.25.

After the World Cup, Ashwin slowly and surely made his place in the squad replacing Harbhajan Singh, picking up wickets and putting in consistent performances to establish himself as the captain’s go-to man when he is in dire need of wickets.

Recently, he also has improved on his batting to put up strong performances with the bat too.

11. Ashish Nehra:

Ashish Nehra had a mixed World Cup, he proved to be too expensive in his first match against South Africa, failing to defend 13 runs in 4 balls. His World Cup was thought to be over, but Dhoni played him ahead of Ashwin against Pakistan and he returned the favor by being the most economical bowler for the side and returning with 2/33 in his 10 over quota. Sadly, he could not play the final after injuring his finger.

Since then, Nehra wasn’t a part of the squad, mostly due to injuries. He made a national comeback in the T20 squad for India’s tour of Australia 2016, the Asia Cup and the World T20. He is still vying for a place in the squad but injuries haven’t let the 36 years young player play as much as he would have wanted.

12. S Sreesanth:

Sreesanth was included in the XI only for two matches during the course of the World Cup, where he was selected in place of Praveen Kumar in the first match and proved to be too expensive and was dropped from the squad. He was recalled in the final against Sri Lanka, where he could not do much finishing with figures of 0-52 in his 8 overs.

He was never recalled in the national team again, but he continued playing in IPL for Rajasthan Royals and his home state Kerala, before the unfortunate event of spot-fixing came to light, in the aftermath of which he was banned from all forms of cricket by the BCCI. Sreesanth is now is trying to make a career in show business with his dancing skills and acting.

13. Harbhajan Singh:

Harbhajan Singh was a key bowler in the World Cup, playing in all the matches, he captured 9 wickets in the process. Though he did not contribute with the wickets, he kept things tight all throughout the tourney and assisted the wicket-takers to continue attacking from the other end.

He later fell out with the national selectors, going into an exile of sorts, though he continued playing for Mumbai Indians in the IPL, and is a key player in their scheme of things. Following his performances in the IPL 2014 and 2015 edition, he was recalled in the one-off Test series against Bangladesh and he captured 3 wickets in that match.

He was also a part of the for the ODI and T20 team for the series against Zimbabwe, where he returned with figures of 2/29 in his first international T20 match in two years. After that, he has been in and out of the squad, mostly playing as a replacement when Ashwin is injured or rested.

14. Zaheer Khan:

Zaheer Khan spearheaded the Indian bowling attack at the World Cup, picking up 21 wickets in the 9 matches he was the joint highest wicket-taker in the tournament. His superlative bowling performance and consistency played an important role in securing the trophy for Team India.

Zaheer finished as the joint highest wicket-taker at the World Cups for India with Javagal Srinath, both finishing their career with 44 World Cup scalps. His international career was curbed due to injuries. Zak played his last ODI in August 2012 against Sri Lanka. He continued in the Tests but got very few opportunities due to injuries again and he played his last Test against New Zealand in February 2014.

He announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on 15 October, 2015 in a tweet saying, “I bid adieu to my career in international cricket. I look forward to signing off with IPL 9.” He was the captain of the Delhi Daredevils for this season in the IPL.

He is a part of the Hindi commentary team of Star Sports. Zaheer also runs a Sport Fitness and Training Center by the name of ProSport Fitness and Services, a special rehab and training facility in association with Adrian Le Roux and Andrew Leipus.

15. Munaf Patel:

Munaf Patel was the unsung hero of India’s World Cup victory, picking up 11 wickets at an economy of 5.39 and an average of 35.73. He bowled a tight line all through the tournament, not letting the pressure off as Zaheer Khan also picked up the wickets at his end.

After the World Cup, he rarely played in national colors again, playing his last ODI against England in September of that very year. Munaf continued playing for Mumbai Indians till the IPL 6, but was unsold in the 2014 IPL Auctions. He still is an important part of the Baroda team in the Ranji Trophy. He will be seend playing for Gujarat Lions in 2017 IPL season.