Job done, time to return: Kirsten

Then, there was a stretch when the Australians took over as leaders to win four World Cup finals, including three on the trot. It was Sri Lanka who beat Australia in the final in Lahore in 1996 whereas India could not grab the opportunity in 2003 and were outplayed in the final at Wanderers.

Sourav Ganguly's men may not have won that final, but they certainly made their brash younger teammates realise that India can be a cricketing superpower sooner rather than later as they had already started beating international teams in their own backyards.

The Indians then and there believed that the day was not far when they will regain the World Cup. The youngsters had to wait eight more years to realise the dream Ganguly's side passed on to them. Sachin Tendulkar, who played in three World Cups before 2003 and one after that, was still around to anchor the team.

Once they got to the top of the Test pyramid, it was a matter of time before India dominated One-day cricket. They sent out a clear message by winning the World Twenty20 Championship in its inaugural year in 2007. A new breed of smart cricketers joined the one-day flock and they all swear by coach Gary Kirsten, who developed them into world- beaters with a committed support staff doing their bit.

The likes of Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Munaf Patel and Yusuf Pathan have emerged as the future of Indian cricket. Most of the present squad will form the core side four years from now in the next World Cup in Australia-New Zealand.

India though had to work really hard to be true World champions. The cricket world refused to accept their 1983 Lord's triumph as a true indicator of their rise as the sport's emerging power. For that to happen, first the World Cup had to be made truly global by taking it out of England, which hosted the first three editions as a birthright.

From an old boys association the International Cricket Conference, as the International Council (ICC) was then known, it was forced to democratiase its functioning, dismantling the rigid autocratic power structure.

The first World Cup outside England came to the Indian subcontinent, thanks to a determined president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) N.K.P. Salve, who forced the ICC to rotate the World Cup among its member nations.

India and Pakistan hosted the 1987 World Cup and nine years later it came back to the subcontinent by right, winning the majority vote. India had to wait for a third World Cup in the subcontinent as it had become rotational. It is well-worth the wait, there is no better feeling than winning the World Cup in front of your frenzied supporters at home.

What's more, three sub-continetal teams entered the semifinals and the final was between joint hosts India and Sri Lanka. The third Asian team, Bangladesh, came close to making the quarterfinals.

Spare a thought for Pakistan, which was stripped of the co-host status at a time when the country and its cricket were hurtling down an abyss for reasons all too well known. Their cricketers desperately wanted to showcase their immense cricket talent and how well they did!

Coming to the 2011 World Cup as no-hopers, they played stupendous cricket to set up a semifinal clash with India and lost a well-fought match watched by the prime ministers of the two countries. For the first time, three Asian teams were in the semis and with a little luck another team from the subcontinent Bangladesh, too, could have barged into the quarterfinals as the fourth team from India's group.

Every Indian with a speck of interest in cricket said 'the Cup is ours' even before the World Cup got under way February 19. Midway through, those with gambling instincts developed cold feet and started looking elsewhere to put money on. All because the team has neither steamrollered the weaker sides in the group nor has come up with any extraordinary performance against the big guns.

Only one person knew exactly what the Indian team was doing on the field and he revealed his mind only after the final. That is India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was clear in his mind that every player in the squad must get an opportunity to get into the playing eleven, assuming the conditions suited his game. He wanted everyone to gain the confidence of playing in a World Cup before the business end of the tournament.

He backed his decisions with explanation that may not have tallied with their logic and arguments. Ultimately, he publicly stated there was a method in whatever he or his players did over six weeks. He has a way of getting even with critics with his seeming sense of humour when he said he had to come up with a big score and see the team crossed the line so that he is not pilloried for some of his decisions like team selection or decisions on and off the field.

Dhoni can afford to say anything now. After winning the Twenty20 World Championship, he had said he wanted players who would stand in front of a moving truck for him. Now he has made his teammates feel so strong that they might mow the opposition down!

The captain of a team can say anything after beating Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the sudden death rounds, tying with Ashes champions and losing narrowly with the best team in the tournament - South Africa. And to win the Cup as only the third team chasing in 10 editions is a terrific achievement.

Dhoni's men end 28-year wait, win World Cup

Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni's stellar partnership paved the way for India to end its 28-year wait for a World Cup title even as Mahela Jayawardene's century and Muttiah Muralitharan's swansong ended in hurt and despair.

Chasing a target of 275, India were pegged on the back foot as early as the second ball of their innings when Lasith Malinga trapped Virender Sehwag plumb in front, and though the Indian opener asked for a referral, it was upheld. Malinga then struck again in the seventh over when he had Mumbai's icon Sachin Tendulkar caught behind in the seventh over. But, the title was sealed when Dhoni hit the first ball of the 49th over for a massive six to put the icing on the cake and send a billion people into raptures.

And, to make things even sweeter for India, Yuvraj Singh was named Man of the Series for his 15 wickets and 362 runs. This win has also completed the career CV of Tendulkar, who didn't contribute to the final as much as he may have liked to, but his innings in the lead-up to the final, not least in the semi-finals against Pakistan, It was also the perfect send-off for coach Gary Kirsten, who has now ended his tenure with the Indian team.

Coming back to the loss of those two early wickets, Gambhir and Kohli got the run chase back on track with a 83-run partnership as the Delhi boys got India right back into the match taking minimal risks and milking the Sri Lankan bowling to the fullest. And, even after Kohli was caught off his own bowling by Dilshan, Dhoni and Gambhir took the chase forward.

Dhoni has not been in the best of forms with the bat in the World Cup, but he potentially played the knock of his career in the final as he remained unbeaten on a 79-ball 91 and shared in a 109-run partnership with Gambhir as they snuffed the fight out of the Sri Lankan attack and broke their spirit with each run they made. And, even though Gambhir was bowled going for a massive hit when on 97, India wasn't denied to be a win and it was fitting that Dhoni and Yuvraj, who have shared in so many monumental partnerships were in the middle, when the mission was finally achieved.

Malinga (2-42) made the early dents, but wasn't able to make any more inroads in his subsequent overs. But, however, the most telling blows was felt by the Sri Lankan spinners, Suraj Randiv and Muralitharan, who bowled 17 overs for 82 runs without taking a wicket; and that's really where Sri Lanka lost the match and plot.

Earlier, Jayawardene scored his 14th one-day international century as his unbeaten 103 helped Sri Lanka set India a target of 275 to win the final of the 2011 World Cup at Mumbai's packed Wankhede Stadium.

Jayawardene was the anchor in Sri Lanka's innings as he scored at more than a ball without taking too many risks and he also strung together important partnerships with his skipper Kumar Sangakkara, Thilan Samaraweera, Nuwan Kulasekara and Thisara Perera to negate the good work done early in their innings by Indian pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, who bowled three maiden overs on the trot at the start of the match.

Sreesanth, who shared the new ball with Zaheer, bowled reasonably well in his first two overs, but Tillakaratne Dilshan it him for a couple of boundaries over midwicket and to the midwicket boundary to break the shackles the left-arm pacer had sprung on the Sri Lankan opening batsmen. In between, Zaheer had Upul Tharanga caught by Virender Sehwag at first slip. Tharanga was all at sea against Zaheer and was beaten on more than one occasion; in fact the Sri Lankan opening batsman was unable to score a single run off the 18 deliveries he faced of Zaheer before he was put out of his misery. Zaheer's first spell figures read 5-3-6-1 and he was the main reason Sri Lanka scored only 31 for 1 in their mandatory power play, their lowest score in this spell of play in the entire tournament. Zaheer's bowling apart, exceptional fielding by Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina at point and cover point respectively further shackled the Sri Lankan top-order.

Earlier, Sangakkara won the toss and elected to bat. However, there was some controversy as the toss took place twice as no one including match referee Jeff Crowe had heard Sangakkara's call first time round. India made only one change with S Sreesanth coming in for the injured Ashish Nehra; but Sri Lanka made four changes as Chamara Kapugedera, Thisara Perera, Suraj Randiv and Nuwan Kulasekara replaced Chamara Silva, the injured Angelo Mathews, Ajantha Mendis and Rangana Herath.

Dilshan was kept uncharacteristically quiet thanks to Zaheer and with Munaf Patel also keeping things tight at the other end it was tough going for the Sri Lankan opening batsman and Sangakkara. Dilshan did all the hard work and just when he looked as though he would play yet another big innings in the 2011 World Cup, he was unfortunate to get a glove as the ball lobbed back and ht the stumps as he was out for a 49-ball 33. Dilshan though ended the World Cup on exactly 500 runs, and became only the fifth batsman to score so many runs in the mega-event after Sachin Tendulkar (twice), Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting and Jayawardene. Sangakkara and Jayawardene then looked untroubled during their 62-run partnership for the third wicket in just over 11 overs before 'golden arm' Yuvraj Singh had the Sri Lankan captain caught behind by Dhoni for a well-made 48 in 67 balls.

Jayawardene, who continued to look as though he was batting on another pitch, was in full control even as Samaraweera led a charmed life in his 34-ball 21 before he was trapped in front by Yuvraj, who finished the 2011 World Cup with 15 wickets. And, though, Zaheer dismissed Kapugedera with a slower ball soon after, Jayawardene continued on his merry ways and was well supported by Kulasekara and the pair added 66 runs for the sixth wicket in quick time.

Jayawardene got to his half-century off 49 balls and then accelerated thereafter bringing up his ton off 84 deliveries. Sri Lanka also took maximum advantage of the batting power play scoring 63 runs for the loss of only Kulasekara's wicket with Jayawardene getting to his century in the space of three deliveries in the 48th over bowled by Zaheer including back-to-back boundaries. Perera then finished the Sri Lankan innings off in style scoring 16 runs including two boundaries and a six as he finished unbeaten on 22 off only 9 balls.

Zaheer destroyed all his good work in the batting power play as he leaked runs and eventually ended with figures of 10-3-60-2, while Yuvraj (2-49) and Harbhajan (1-50) were amongst the other wicket-takers. Sreesanth (8-0-52-0) disappointed yet again, while Munaf did well to finish well with 0-41 off nine overs.