'Memory of a lifetime' - Twitter celebrates 10th anniversary of India's win in 2011 World Cup

Exactly on this day in 2011, India’s long wait for the World Cup came to an end when the Men in Blue defeated Sri Lanka in the final of the tournament in front of a jam-packed partisan crowd at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Skipper MS Dhoni led from the very front and scored an unbeaten 91 to guide the team to the historic win.

It was India’s second triumph in the 50-over World Cup and the first since 1983. The historic victory also saw India become the first-ever team to win the elusive trophy at home. Since then, India have not laid their hands on the World Cup. With the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh and several other legendary cricketers in their ranks, India were the favourites for the 2011 World Cup and they lived up to the expectations.

Sri Lanka were also the favourites for the trophy and were looking almost invincible in the tournament. In the final, the Islanders put up a good show with the bat as they scored 274 for 6 in the allotted 50 overs. Legendary Mahela Jayawardene starred with the bat, scoring an unbeaten 103 while the likes of Kumar Sangakkara and Thisara Perera also played handy knocks.

India’s reply

Chasing 275, India were off to a disastrous start as they lost Sehwag and Tendulkar for just 31 runs. But before Sri Lanka could capitalise on the early breakthroughs, Gautam Gambhir, who would go on to top-score for India with 97, steadied the ship by sharing an 83-run stand with Virat Kohli before the latter was dismissed for 34.

After Kohli’s dismissal, Dhoni promoted himself up the order ahead of in-form Yuvraj Singh and it proved to be a masterstroke. Dhoni and Gambhir shared a decisive 109-run stand for the fourth wicket. Perera broke the stand when he castled Gambhir for 97. But unlike Gambhir, Dhoni kept his calm and anchored India’s chase brilliantly.

He and Yuvraj shared an unbeaten stand of 54 runs to take India home in the 49th over. Dhoni finished the game in style by hitting Nuwan Kulasekara for a maximum at long-on. And as India celebrates the 10th anniversary of the famous win, the cricketing fraternity took to Twitter to express the feelings over the game.

Here are some of the reactions: