It was the 2011 Cricket World Cup Final was the first One Day International (ODI) match played with India as well as Sri Lanka at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, India on April 2nd, 2011 on a Saturday. The culmination in the tenth edition of the World Cup, it was the first time two Asia teams faced the other team in a World Cup final. India defeated the other team with six wickets — its second World Cup win after the 1983 World Cup. It was the third team to win the title more than once. This follows Australia (1987, 1999, 2003, 2007, and then 2015) along with the West Indies (1975 and 1979). India became the first country to win the Cricket World Cup in their home country. However, it has been said that the final match was fixed as well. Sri Lanka sold the match to India. Former Sri Lankan Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage has stated that “The 2011 Cricket World Cup final was fixed. I am adamant about what I have said. It took place when I was Minister of Sports. ” Prior to that in the past, former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga declared that the final was to be fixed , and demanded a inquiry into the incident.
Both teams had made it through three stages before reaching the final. India had won every match prior to that, before losing at the hands of South Africa and tying with England in the group stage. Sri Lanka had won all except one game that was played against Pakistan. In the match, Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara chose to bat first, after having won the toss. The team struggled to score until the 17th over when they lost both openers. Sangakkara added 62 runs alongside Mahela Jayawardene. He was then disqualified for 48 runners. Even though wickets kept falling on the other end, Jayawardene scored 103 runs in 88 balls; he was involved in a partnership of 66 with Thisara Perera. The two took Sri Lanka’s total to 274 at the end of the innings.
In return, India lost their opener Virender Sehwag to the second ball of the match being flung out LBW through Lasith Malinga. Sachin Tendulkar, too, got out quickly. The next batsmen, Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli scored scores of 83 overs before Kohli was dismissed after the 22nd over. India captain MS Dhoni in a bid to move himself into the middle of the order joined Gambhir and they both added 109 runs, which is an Indian record for a World Cup final. Gambhir got out for his 97-run score in the 42nd over. India defeated the total and took the game through six wickets during the 49th round. Dhoni was declared as the “man for the game” for his 91 runs while his teammate Yuvraj Singh was awarded the title of “man for the match”.
The game was watched by around 42,000 fans in the stadium and more than 135 million people watching the television screen in India. This was the second occasion it has happened in World Cup history that a home nation won the final as well as the first time they were able to be able to win on their own turf.
The 2011 Cricket World Cup was the 10th World Cup, organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The competition took place between February 19 and April 2011. The tournament was co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh The tournament took place as the 3rd World Cup to be played in the Indian subcontinent. The ICC ruled out Pakistan on security grounds. There were 14 participating teams comprising four associating members of the ICC, Kenya, Canada, Ireland and Netherlands.
It was the tenth World Cup final and was hosted by the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. This is the first time the city hosted a World Cup final, and was the second World Cup final which was held in India, after the 1987 final that was held at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. The 2011 final was the first to be hosted by two countries from the same continent, and also the first time two co-hosts competed for the championship.
India were making their third appearance in an World Cup final. Prior to that, they won that final game in 1983 but lost it in 2003. Sri Lanka was appearing in their third World Cup final; breakthrough winner against Australia in 1996. They were crowned in the second place (also with Australia) at the prior World Cup in 2007. Prior to the match, India and Sri Lanka faced each other seven times throughout World Cup history with Sri Lanka ahead by four victories with two defeats, as well as one match ended in an unresult. In One Day Internationals India had the upper hand over Sri Lanka with 75 victories against 52 victories of Sri Lanka, while 11 matches had ended with no result.
The final drew huge attention. In the presidential election of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa, an avid cricket fan, announced he would attend the game along with his sons. Following this announcement, Indian Vice President Pratibha Patil was also announcing her decision to attend the match.
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Journey to the finals
Sri Lanka qualified for the knockouts after finishing second within Group A. They beat Pakistan in four of their matches, but suffered a loss against Pakistan and against Australia were swept out. They were level on points with Australia their team was put in second place due to their higher net run rate.
India were included in Group B where they finished second after South Africa. India won the first four games of their tournament they lost only one against South Africa while their game against England was a high scoring game.
Sri Lanka had clinically demolished England in the quarter final winning on the scoreboard by 10 wickets. Both Sri Lankan openers, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga, scored unbeaten centuries and put up a world-record stand for the first wicket at the history of a World Cup. The New Zealand semi-final was more competitively contested, yet was however won relatively easily from Sri Lanka. The matches highlighted the unconventional bowling technique of the pace spearhead Lasith Malinga and the restrained fielding, as well as the batting prowess from the Sri Lankan top order.
Both knockout games played by India were high-pressure contests. Australia was a formidable squad and the current champions and India had to deliver an outstanding performance to restrict Australia to 260 and then achieve the goal despite wickets falling regularly. India and their semi-final counterparts, Pakistan, have historically been adversaries. There were huge public pressures on both teams in the event which was attended by the Prime Ministers of both countries. India batted first and defeated Pakistan by 29 runs.
Team composition
India generally kept the same team that played during the semi-finals against Pakistan in the semi-final, with only one change. Ashish Nehra left-arm medium pacer injured his finger when he was fielding during that game which was then replaced by another pacer, Sreesanth. India was widely regarded as having the strongest batting line-up in the tournament, and took the decision to reinforce this position through the whole campaign with seven bowlers and seven batsmen. Because of Yuvraj Singh’s excellent performance as a batsman and a ball during the event, India were able to play only four bowlers who were specialists. Yuvraj bowled his entire quota of 10 overs in several games, including the semi-final game against Pakistan. Within the four bowling slots Zaheer Khan was the pace spearhead who was supported throughout the matches by Munaf Patel, while Harbhajan Singh is the main off-spinner. This fourth spot was occupied by different bowlers during different matches, which included Sreesanth, Nehra, leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, or the off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. The captain was adamant about using Nehra over Ashwin in the game against Pakistan too. Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni had then stated that he would prefer three seamers because it gave the captain more options. He already had experienced spinners Harbhajan and Yuvraj and could use a number of other Indian players who could bowl part-time spin (including Sachin Tendulkar, Suresh Raina as well as Virender Sehwag).
Sri Lanka made four changes to their team for the semi-final. All-rounder Angelo Mathews had suffered a quadriceps muscle tear and was unable to take part in the. Sri Lanka knew the Indians’ strength was batting, which is why they had to make wickets to pressurize them. The result was that they picked a full complement of bowlers. Spin bowler Ajantha Mendis performed well throughout the tournament, however the team had poor results against India in the pre-World Cup games and was dropped from the final. The spinner, Rangana Herath, was also removed. In addition, off-spinner Suraj Randiv and batsman Chamara Kapugedera arrived to Sri Lanka to strengthen the side. Seamers Nuwan Kulasekara, and Thisara Perera, both of whom had played matches in the earlier group stage, were drafted into the squad. Legendary spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was suffering minor injuries, but was picked up. He had announced that he was going to retire from One Day International cricket after the World Cup, so this was his final match. The semi-final played at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo was his last ODI match at home He had been carried to the ground, perched on his teammates’ shoulders, on a lap of honour after the game.
After match
Welcome receptions in Sri Lanka
Though Sri Lankan spectators were initially unhappy, they eventually came together behind their team and welcomed them at the airport with garlands, cheers, and celebration. Sri Lanka’s stellar performance during the World Cup was appreciated, and was acknowledged as getting to the final was a important achievement in and of itself. Batsman opening Tillekaratne Dilshan was the highest run scorer in the tournament, with Sangakkara was the highest third (the the second-highest was Sachin Tendulkar of India).
The Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa hosted an event of High Tea for the Sri Lankan players and spouses on the grounds of the Presidential House, Temple Trees.
Reception in India
Indian fans were overjoyed at the victory, as well as their overall team performance through the tournament. There was a flurry of celebrations throughout most of India during the entire weekend. >citation needed
It was reported that Indian president Pratibha Patil hosted High Tea for the Indian players and spouses in the premises of Raj Bhavan (Governor’s House) in Mumbai.
There wasn’t a ticker tape parade for the team on an public bus (as was the case following 2007, with the Twenty20 World Cup win) because of the hectic schedule. The 2010 edition of the Indian Premier League starting on 8 April. Prizes were awarded to Indian players
Apart from the World Cup trophy itself, the Indian team received numerous prizes from cricket boards, the various state governments, and public and private businesses.
- The BCCI announced a Rs20 million (US$270,000) incentive for every player of the World Cup winning team. Cash rewards of up to Rs5 million (US$66,000) and Rs2.5 million (US$33,000) were declared in each participant of support personnel and the selection committee, respectively.
- A total of Rs20 million (US$270,000) was awarded to Dhoni and $10 million (US$130,000) paid an additional four Delhi players from the victorious team by government officials from the Delhi government.
- Many motor companies offered vehicles, for example, Hyundai India gave Vernas to the team, Ferrari gave a 599 GTO India edition to Dhoni and Audi provided a car to Man of the Tournament Yuvraj Singh >citation needed
- It was the Gujarat state government decided that both Munaf Patel and Yusuf Pathan would be awarded with the highest honours in sports of the state – the Eklavya Award.
- The Punjab government has announced a total of Rs10million (US$130,000) every for both Harbhajan Singh as well as Yuvraj Singh.
- The Maharashtra government gave out Rs10 million (US$130,000) in cash for Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan.
- The Karnataka government announced Rs2.5 million (US$33,000) to everyone of the 15 members in the Indian World Cup squad.
- Uttarakhand offered Dhoni a plot of land for his residence or a house in the hill town in Mussoorie and a pavilion is expected to be constructed by the state in his honour.
- A real estate company donated luxurious villas for a total value of the sum of Rs90 million (US$1.2 million) the team Team India.
Change of the Sri Lanka team
After several days of deliberate, Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lankan captain, announced on the 5th of April that he had decided to resign from the position of captain of the One Day International and Twenty20 teams for the long-term benefit in the national team. According to him, he would be 37 by the date of the 2015 World Cup, could not be certain of his position in the squad at the time, and it is best to have a new captain be groomed now, who is at the highest point of his career at that tournament. He indicated that he was ready to take the captain’s seat for the next tour to England and possibly Australia if the selectors felt it would ease the transition to the captaincy of a new person. After Sangakkara’s announcement, Mahela Jayawardene was sacked from the vice-captain’s position, as well as Aravinda de Silva from the post of Chairman of Selectors.
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