MS Dhoni Receives Padma Bhushan On The Day When India Lifted The 2011 ICC World Cup
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's six to win the 2011 ICC World Cup for India is one of the lasting images of cricket in the country.
Highlights
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India beat Sri Lanka on this day in 2011 to lift the Cricket World Cup
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Dhoni hit the winning runs with a huge six over long on
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India have won the World Cup in 1983 and 2011
India have won the ICC Cricket World Cup twice, once in 1983 and the second triumph came in 2011. Both were memorable in their own respect but one moment that stood out in 2011 was the huge six that came off former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's bat. On this day, April 2, 2011, India won the World Cup final against Sri Lanka. With ten balls to go at the Wankhede Stadium, then-captain Dhoni ended India's drought with a humungous six over the bowler's head at long-on. Incidentally, Dhoni was conferred with the Padma Bhushan by the President of India on April 2, 2018.
The aftermath of that winning six sent the whole stadium into delirium sparking tears of joy for both players and fans alike. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared the video on Twitter bringing back the memories of that moment which remains etched onto every ardent Indian cricket lover's hearts.
First Indian citizen to go to space and first Indian citizen to launch a cricket ball into the orbit to lift the - #ThisDayThatYear #RakeshSharma #MSDhoni pic.twitter.com/8zaj6afYjs
— BCCI (@BCCI) April 2, 2018
Winning the toss, Mahela Jayawardene (103*) scored a brilliant unbeaten century with Kumar Sangakkara ably supporting him with a 67-ball 48. The duo helped Sri Lanka post 274/6 in their allotted 50 overs. Pacer Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh picked two wickets each.
Chasing 275 to rewrite history, India were off to a disastrous start after the Sri Lankan bowlers sent both openers Virender Sehwag (0) and Sachin Tendulkar (18) back to the pavilion early.
Gautam Gambhir played a superb knock of 97 runs off 122 balls and shared an 83-run partnership stand with Virat Kohli (35) for the third wicket.
Elevating himself above Yuvraj Singh in the batting order, Dhoni came in after Kohli lost his wicket to Tillakaratne Dilshan. Dhoni (91*) and Gambhir stitched a partnership of 109 runs for the fourth wicket to take India to a comfortable position. And what happened after that, the whole world witnessed it.