MEN IN BLUE BAGS WORLD CUP -2011

Indian cricket team has won the ICC world cup 2011 defeating great giants like Australia in the quarter final, Pakistan in the semi final and Sri Lanka in the final match. This is the 10^th tournament of this edition and India is winning it for the second time after 28 years placing a full stop to the domination of Australia in cricket for almost 12 years. The last cup was bagged in 1983 under the captainship of Kapil Dev. India has become the first host-nation to win the world cup with final played in the host country itself. Indian Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was adjudged man of the match for his unbeaten 91 in the final. Yuvraj Singh was adjudged man of the series for his performance with both ball and bat. Dilshan was the leading scorer of this tournament with 500 runs. Shahid Afridi and Zaheer khan shared the leading wicket takers record. There were two hat-tricks in this tournament; one by Roach (WI) and another by Malinga (SL).

It was an emotional moment for everyone and could witness the tears from almost everyone’s face over their victory. The whole Indian team helped the great Sachin Tendulkar to his first title in six attempts. Tendulkar was lifted onto his teammates' shoulders for a victory lap. "He carried the hopes of the nation for 21 years so it's time we carried him on our shoulders," batsman Virat Kohli said. "It's the ultimate thing and I'm experiencing it. I couldn't have asked for anything better. It's the proudest moment of my life. It's never too late to say thanks to all my teammates. Without such fabulous performance and such consistency it would never have happened” Legend Sachin Tendulkar said. He also added that he wasn't too proud to shed a tear. "They were happy tears, so I wouldn't mind crying".  

The 2011 Cricket World Cup winning team, India would be taking home prize money of US$ 3 million and a replica of the ICC Cricket World Cup Trophy that has been awarded since 1999.  The runner-up Sri Lanka would have US$ 1.5 million in its part. The total prize money on offer for the tournament for the teams placing from 1st to 8th is US$7.48 million. The remaining two semi-finalists will receive 0.75 million US$ each. The last four quarter-finalists will each receive 0.37 million US$.