The 2011 World Cup win is a sweet memory for every Indian who witnessed the glorious feat which came after a 28-year long wait.
More so, because it turned out to be the perfect ending for the fairytale of Sachin Tendulkar’s glittering career. Before 2011, Sachin featured in as many as five world cups which ended in disappointments.
Sachin came heart-achingly close to the coveted trophy in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa, where he took the Indian side single-handedly into the finals with his tally of 600+ runs.
After India’s humiliating exit from the 2007 World Cup, Sachin pondered about retirement briefly but came back in style, notching up tons with ease in the prelude to the mega event in 2011.
Out of favour Indian batsman, Suresh Raina, whose cameos then helped India clinch the title, has named the player because of whom India won the World Cup. And, it is none other than the Master Blaster.
“With Sachin, it’s always about his calmness. It was because of Sachin that we won the World Cup,” Raina told Khaleej Times.
“He was the guy who made everyone in the team believe that we can do that. He was like the second coach in the team,” added Raina.
Tendulkar led the Indian onslaught from the front, amassing 482 runs – second-most in the tournament. He notched up tons against England and South Africa, with notable contributions in the knockouts against Pakistan and Australia.
It is now a well-renowned phenomenon that the entire Indian squad was playing for the Little Master’s last world cup and thereby played out of their skins.
Raina was also fortunate enough to play another World Cup in 2015 unlike many other stars from the class of 2011, who never featured for another ODI World Cup, namely, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh.
