What Are The India's 2011 World Cup Winning Members Up To Now?

What Are The India’s 2011 World Cup Winning Members Up To Now? Who can forget the ride that the Indian National Cricket Team had under Mahendra Singh Dhoni during ICC World Cup 2011? They won it after 28 years of wait to lift the world cup again by thrashing Sri Lankans and Pakistani’s in the finals and semifinals of the tournament. Each player of the team has shown his capability and helped for the cause of the team to lift the trophy.

Starting with Virender Sehwag to the god Sachin Tendulkar, followed by magical Gambhir alongside the young and aggressive Virat Kohli – It was a formidable batting order, India has ever seen with every batsman in top form. Following them, the classy Yuvraj Singh and the finisher Mahendra Singh Dhoni – the duo, who threatened the batsman throughout the tournament alongside the handy Suresh Raina.

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The bowling department was equally at the best throughout their journey as well. Zaheer Khan, alongside the young fast bowlers and the spin department, helped India seal the tournament in their backyard. Meanwhile, we came up with the piece, which reveals their current professions and the journey, which they had after the World Cup.

What Are The India’s 2011 World Cup Winning Members Up To Now?

1. Virender Sehwag:

Almost every game, he was successful in scoring the boundary on the first ball for the team. Virender Sehwag made many decisive contributions during the successful campaign. The explosive opener’s stay in the squad didn’t last long after the World Cup due to the rise of promising youth Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma.

Although Sehwag did not have the perfect World Cup final as he was dismissed on the second delivery for a duck against Sri Lanka, he did have a great run during the 2011 World Cup tournament. Virender Sehwag began the tournament with a massive 175-run innings against Bangladesh. He was a key player throughout India’s 2011 World Cup campaign scoring 380 runs at 47.50.

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A mainstay in the Indian team for over a decade, Sehwag’s form dropped dramatically after winning the World Cup, scoring just one century in fifteen ODIs. Sehwag announced his retirement from international cricket at the age of 37. Sehwag is still close to the game as an expert and commentator. He has also mentored Kings XI Punjab in the IPL and also tried to coach the Indian team.

2. Sachin Tendulkar:

He was one of the reasons for the Indian team, which lifted the inspiration and the grit in the team players. Sachin Tendulkar was in remarkable form throughout the tournament. The knock he played against Pakistan was much required for the team, as it was the major threat for India after reaching semifinals.

The Little Master was in fine knock during the 2011 tournament, scoring the second-most runs (482) for the competition.  After finally living his long-cherished dream of lifting the World Cup, Tendulkar continued playing international cricket till November 2013 before hanging his boots as the highest run-scorer in Tests and ODIs.

Since then, he’s mentored Mumbai Indians in IPL and a part of BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee. Sachin is currently running several academies and that too in overseas as well.

3. Gautam Gambhir:

The Delhi lad Gambhir is an unsung cricketer of the tournament for India. He carried all the weight on his shoulders and helped the Indian team with his magical knock in the final of the tournament against Sri Lanka. It was unfortunate to see him missing a century in the final but played a valiant knock for the team.

After winning the 2011 World Cup, 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. But, failed to replicate the same.

In 2018, he announced his retirement from all formats of the game. 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.

4. Virat Kohli:

One can see a dramatic change in Virat Kohli from 2011 to 2019. Virat Kohli was the second youngest cricketer in the tournament and scored a century in his maiden world cup game against Bangladesh. Besides that, he played a superb hand to help Gautam Gambhir in the middle of the innings.

He is arguably the best player of his generation and currently breaking records in all formats of the game. He’s been on top of the ICC charts for some time now and leading the Indian National Cricket Team across the formats.

Virat Kohli also led the team in ICC World Cup 2019 but failed to make the most, as the team failed to chase a low total against New Zealand. Besides all the success, he had a few heartbreaks as well. Failure to win a single IPL, loss to Australia in the 2015 World Cup semis and loss to Pakistan in the 2017 Champions Trophy final. In between, he got married as well.

5. Yuvraj Singh:

Perhaps, India wouldn’t have made it to the world cup final if he decided to quit from the middle of the tournament due to cancer symptoms. Remarkably Yuvraj’s 2011 heroics came while battling cancer, which he was diagnosed with shortly after the tournament.

After successfully overcoming the illness Yuvraj returned to international cricket in September 2012 and has been in and out of India’s ODI side since. In 2011 he was named Player of the Tournament after scoring 360 runs and taking 15 wickets — four years on and the explosive batsman isn’t even in the squad.

Despite his inconsistency at the international level, he remained in the fray for international selection and received numerous recalls after being dropped. Recently, he called curtains on his career to ply his trade in overseas tournaments.

6. Mahendra Singh Dhoni:

The leader of the pack, calm-minded Dhoni did it for India. He was the man, who brought cheers to 1.2 billion fans with his exceptional work. The knock he played in the final and the final six he smashed off Nuwan Kulasekara will always remain for ages to the fans.

2011’s World Cup glory came at the height of Dhoni’s reign as captain as he guided India to the top of the international cricket tree in both Tests and the 50-over format. The four years since have proven a sterner test of Dhoni’s captaincy.

Eight years later, despite many stints of bad form, Dhoni continues to be the ‘finisher of games’ for the Indian side. He was a part of a couple of world cups since then but failed to replicate the same, as the team lost in knock-out games. During this period, he has become the Lieutenant Colonel of the Indian Army.

7. Suresh Raina:

Gary Kirsten once said that the key for India success was the contribution from Suresh Raina at crucial junctures of the tournament. He has been a massive help down the order for India.

After being an integral part of Team India for years to come 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.

Currently, he is part of Chennai Super Kings’ side in Indian Premier League. The flamboyant batsman is looking to get a place in T20I World Cup 2020.

8. Yusuf Pathan:

The swashbuckling batsman has been a sensation during his times. 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 IPL cricket as well.

9. Harbhajan Singh:

The veteran spinner at present played a massive role for the Indian team during ICC World Cup 2011. He used to give the depth with bat and bowled those crucial spells. Harbhajan Singh, 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.

In September 2011, he was dropped from the ODI side, and soon, in October of the same year, he was dropped from the Test side.

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.

Harbhajan Singh has reached the last stage of career and he is also working hard at the domestic level in hope of a comeback. Currently, he is playing for CSK in IPL.

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 a lot of problem 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.

11. Munaf Patel:

The fast bowler was accurate with his bowling for India. His stump to stump line helped the team to get economical overs and crucial wickets as well.

One of the forgotten heroes of India’s triumph, Munaf Patel soon fell lost his place in the squad, having last played for India in an ODI against England in September 2011.

He did continue playing domestic cricket and the IPL till 2017 before announcing his retirement in November 2018.

12. 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.

Piyush Chawla is a very important member of KKR’s team and he is preparing for the upcoming edition of Indian Premier League and also playing for his domestic team as well.

In conjunction with Sunil Narine and Kuldeep Yadav, Chawla has formed an intimidating spin trio at KKR, winning a number of matches for the side.

13. Ashish Nehra:

Despite being injured, Ashish Nehra has always brought positive vibes to the team during his stay with the team. Ashish Nehra played a crucial role for India in 2011 World Cup. The left-arm fast bowler hasn’t played an ODI after 2011 semi-final encounter but made a comeback in the T20 format.

Between 2011 and 2016, Nehra would alternate his time between nursing his numerous injuries and playing in domestic cricket and the IPL. However, he played T20I format after the scintillating show for CSK. Later, he called curtains and opened a new side of him by entering the coaching panel.

14. Ravichandran Ashwin:

Ashwin was a part of the team but unfortunately, played only a couple of games. However, after the world cup, he soon rose as India’s No.1 spinner across formats.

After his run of poor performances in the champions trophy, he felt out of favour in limited over cricket. Eventually, he was left out of the world cup squad in the next couple of editions

However, despite his indifferent form in white-ball cricket, he has established himself as arguably the finest bowler in Test match cricket, and almost unarguably the finest spinner in Indian conditions.

15. S 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.