India's 2011 World Cup Winning Team: What Players Are Up To Now ?

India’s 2011 World Cup Winning Team: What Players Are Up To Now; Turning the clock back to nine years, exactly on this day, the Indian cricket lovers went crazy following India’s victory against Sri Lanka in the final of the ICC World Cup 2011 at Wankhede Stadium. Fans the streets across India, to celebrate the victory to the fullest and India became the first nation to win a tournament despite being the hosts.

It was a memorable feat for many cricketers, especially, for the ‘God of Cricket’, Sachin Tendulkar, who played his final World Cup event. He always wanted to win it and finally, he made that happen with the help of other fourteen members alongside the support staff.

The likes of Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni, who still play, have become stars. Also, some of the players went into a downward spiral and are shadows of the players they used to be.

This slideshow focuses on the fifteen members of the World Cup-winning squad. It looks at how their careers progressed in the aftermath of undoubtedly the biggest moment in their cricketing lives and give a piece of information about the whereabouts these players in the present day.

India’s 2011 World Cup Winning Team: What Players Are Up To Now

1. Virender Sehwag:

The swashbuckling opening batsman was an unsung hero for Indian during the entire world cup. In most of the games, he gave the perfect start to the team and set the stage for the middle-order to latch on to the game. If there could be any regret for him, it would be his 2-ball duck in the final of the tournament.

After officially retiring from all formats of the game in 2015, Viru provides his expertise on various pre and post-match analytical shows. Sehwag is a proud owner of Sehwag International School that has been producing some of the most talented players from the younger lot. He can also be seen on social media every now and then, roasting others and sometimes, even himself.

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2. Sachin Tendulkar:

It was a dream-come-true moment for him when India lifted the world cup after 28 years. He had a sensational game in semifinals and proved his mettle when it was going tough for India at times. Tendulkar emerged as the highest run-getter for the ‘Men in Blue’ as he amassed 482 runs at an average of 53.55 which included two fifties and two centuries.

Sachin Tendulkar played ODIs until the Asia Cup of 2012 – the tournament in which he got his much-awaited 100th international century. In December of 2012, he announced his retirement from the ODI format.

However, he continued playing Test matches until his 200th Test match in November 2013, post which he retired from all forms of cricket. He received a grand farewell in that match, and it was an emotional moment for all followers of cricket.

Since then, he has found a way to keep himself involved with the game. He is the ‘Icon’ of Mumbai Indians in the IPL. He also became a Member of Parliament (MP) and has been striving to make India as a country better in every aspect by contributing as much as he can.

3. Gautam Gambhir:

He is yet another unsung hero of the ICC World Cup 2011 squad. The stylish southpaw was the batsman, who carried the burden of the chase on his shoulders after losing Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag for cheap scores in the initial overs.

Initially, he balanced the chase with Virat Kohli and then combined with MS Dhoni to put India on the hunt. Though he suffered a heart-break after missing out the century with 97 to his name, his effort was always hailed as the turning point for India’s win.

After winning the 2011 World Cup, Gautam Gambhir struggled to find his form and went off the radar for quite some time. He began to play domestic cricket and was even called to play a Test series against New Zealand in 2016. However, Gambhir announced his retirement ahead of his final match for team Delhi in the 2018 Ranji Trophy season, in which he also scored a century on 6th December 2018.

He recently won in the Lok Sabha elections as a BJP candidate and currently working for the party. Besides that, he is also a writer and works for many charities.

4. Virat Kohli:

Virat Kohli was 22-year-old when he played the final of the world cup and his 35-run contribution with Gautam Gambhir is one of his cherished knocks by the Indian fans. Kohli, the youngest member of the World Cup-winning squad of 2011, has gone on to become arguably the best player in the world cricket across the formats.

Since that World Cup, Kohli has become a run-machine. He now has 70 international hundreds (27 in Tests and 43 in ODIs). He also became the skipper of the Indian National Cricket Team and ruling the batting charts across the globe in all formats of the game.

Handed the Test captaincy in 2015 and the limited-overs captaincy in 2017, he currently serves as the captain of the Indian Cricket Team and has led the team in one of its most successful phases. Further, he has been a consistent figure in the IPL, leading the Royal Challengers Bangalore and performing well on a personal front every season.

5. Yuvraj Singh:

The player of the series in the 2011 World Cup, Yuvraj Singh was on the top of the world after India’s historic win. However, just under a year later, he received a piece of news that was heartbreaking not only for him but also for the entire cricketing fraternity: he was diagnosed with cancer.

Yuvraj, being the fighter he is, recovered from the horrific disease and made his comeback to international cricket in a matter of months. The fact that he came back to play international cricket at all is marvellous, but his career was never the same, and Yuvraj never managed to become the same player.

Despite his inconsistency at the international level, he remained in the fray for international selection and received numerous recalls after being dropped. However, because of his struggles, he called curtains after IPL 2019. Since then, he is playing franchise cricket in overseas.

6. Suresh Raina:

Another unsung hero of the Indian National Cricket Team is Suresh Raina, who played a couple of exceptional knocks in the knock out games. He hardly got the chances in the initial phase of the tournament and didn’t get the opportunity to bat in the final of the tournament as well. However, the head coach Gary Kirstein dubbed Suresh Raina was the major asset for India.

After being an integral part of Team India for years after the 2011 victory, Raina hit a slump in 2016 and has been on and off the team ever since. Having played his last ODI and T20I match for the national team back in July’18 against England, Raina is trying to make a comeback but it may be too late for the senior middle-order batsman to return.

7. MS Dhoni:

MS Dhoni, the man who captained India to victory and hit the winning six, would almost certainly consider the World Cup of 2011 to be his proudest moment as captain. However, in the direct aftermath of the World Cup, Dhoni experienced numerous ups and downs in his captaincy.

While he did win an IPL with the Chennai Super Kings in 2011, he presided over one of the worst phases in Indian cricket: eight back-to-back Test defeats in overseas conditions, and complete humiliation of the team.

Despite his lacklustre performance in overseas Tests, Dhoni proved to be one of India’s best captains. He led the team to Champions Trophy win, some memorable Test victories overseas, and many bilateral and multilateral series wins.

Having retired from Test matches in 2014, Dhoni relinquished the limited-overs captaincy in 2017; however, he remains a permanent fixture in the team. Currently, he is at the twilight of his career.

8. Yusuf Pathan:

Yusuf Pathan’s contribution to the World Cup victory was rather minimal, and his international career only lasted for a little under a year after that.

He is not only with the bat but also helpful with the ball. However, Yusuf Pathan didn’t play too many games in the tournament and hasn’t made an impact at all after the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. Certainly, he was dropped.

Pathan, who has in all probability given up hopes of an international recall, can still be mighty proud of his few outstanding innings for India and his match-winning displays in the IPL. He still plays domestic cricket and failed to attract an IPL contract in 2020 auctions.

9. Harbhajan Singh:

During the 2011 World Cup, Bhajji, who not only was the second-highest wicket-taker for the Indian side, he also had one of the best economy rates amongst the Men in Blue. However, his form dipped after the world cup victory.

Though he received T20 international recalls in 2012 and 2016, and Test recalls in 2012, 2013, and 2015, all of these returns to the side were sporadic, some lasting only for a solitary match.

Not having officially retired from the international scenario, Harbhajan Singh has no plans of playing international or first-class cricket anymore. Having said that, he continues to play for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL and also works as a broadcaster for Star Sports.

10. Zaheer Khan:

He was one of the prime reasons for the success of Indian team during the tough times of the tournament. Arguably India’s best quick since Kapil Dev; Zaheer Khan was in a rich vein of form at the 2011 World Cup when he finished top of the wicket tally for the tournament (21).

After that, Injuries caused problems for him. Although, he took 5 wickets in his final match. He played in the IPL for the last time in 2016. Though Zaheer quit the league as a player, he joined MI as their Director of Cricket Operations.

Khan now has two fitness centres in Mumbai and is looking to expand to other cities as well. He also has a couple of restaurants and a sports lounge in Pune. He was in the scheme of things to become the bowling consultant for India but things didn’t work out well. However, he remained close to the game with his expert analysis for television and online shows.

11. Sreesanth:

He was considered as the lucky charm of the Indian team. The fast bowler was a part of two world-cup winning teams. Sadly, the final of the ICC World Cup 2011 was his last ODI game in his career, as he was banned for involving in IPL fixing.

Sreesanth was banned for a lifetime after his alleged involvement in spot-fixing in IPL 2013. Since then he has been out of the cricketing arena. He later joined the BJP and has tried his hands at acting as well.

However, later, the high court has declared him innocent and lifted the ban on him. He is looking to make a comeback to the professional cricket.

12. Munaf Patel:

He is yet another unsung hero of that successful team. Munaf Patel went about his job very quietly and delivered more often than not. He picked up 11 wickets in the tournament and complemented Zaheer Khan well. However, 2011 was the last time Munaf Patel played international cricket.

Unfortunately for Patel, once the World Cup was over, his days with the Indian national team were numbered. Playing his last ODI against England in September 2011, Patel was last seen on the field, playing in the 2017 IPL for the Gujarat Lions. He has also expressed the desire to begin a career as a coach.

Patel recently appeared in the Road Safety World Series 2020, which was later cancelled. Currently, he is running various businesses to survive.

13. Ravichandran Ashwin:

Ravichandran Ashwin was not even a year old in international cricket during the World Cup in 2011. He had played just 10 international matches (7 ODIs and 3 T20Is). However, he played an important part in a couple of games in that tournament.

He played against Windies in the final group stage game and the quarter-final against Australia. He picked up two wickets each in both games helping India control the game.

After the 2011 World Cup, he became India’s premier spinner across formats. For almost six years, he was the team’s No. 1 spinner in all three formats.

But, progressive dips in his limited-overs form led to Ashwin, a player who made his name through the IPL and established himself as one of the finest players in the tournament, becoming a far less threatening spinner.

He played for the Chennai Super Kings till 2015, the Rising Pune Supergiant(s) in 2016 and 2017, and has now gone on to play for the Kings XI Punjab as their skipper.

14. Ashish Nehra:

When Ashish Nehra played the World Cup final, few would have thought that he would be playing international cricket in November 2017. However, through sheer willpower and tenacity, Nehra was able to prolong his career and have a resurgence as a T20 specialist.

Between 2011 and 2016, Nehra would alternate his time between nursing his numerous injuries and playing in domestic cricket and the IPL. However, extremely impressive showings for the Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2014 and IPL 2015, led to his return to the national set-up in early 2016.

He made a comeback in Australia in January 2016 and also played the 2016 World T20. Nehra played quite a few games before finally calling it a day in November 2017. He was India’s go-to T20 bowler along with Jasprit Bumrah for almost two years.

Ashish Nehra later involved with Royal Challengers Bangalore and looking after his businesses. His performance against Pakistan in 2011 World Cup semifinals was the notable performance of him.

15. Piyush Chawla:

Haven’t played many matches. He is one of the fortunate cricketers to be included in the side. Chawla had a minimal role to play in India’s victory and has not featured in ODIs for India since then. Further, besides a one-Test come back in 2012 and four T20 internationals in the same year, he has not played for India at all.

However, he is still actively playing domestic cricket and IPL. Piyush Chawla played a crucial role in KKR’s success in the tournament over the years. However, in 2020 auctions, KKR decided to leave him while Chennai Super Kings bought him for the IPL 2020 edition.