3 biggest unsung heroes from India's 2011 World Cup win
On this day in 2011, India became the new World Cup champion by defeating Sri Lanka in the final match of the showpiece 50-over event at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Captain MS Dhoni led the Men in Blue from the front in the big game, smashing an unbeaten half-century. He hit the winning six as well to seal the deal for the Indian team.
Whenever fans talk about the 2011 World Cup win, MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Zaheer Khan, and Harbhajan Singh are the names that come to the minds of cricket fans.
The aforementioned players played a massive role in India's World Cup 2011 win. One of them always stepped up and delivered the goods for the Men in Blue in that mega event.
However, fans tend to forget that the following three stars also played a big role in India's win. Here's a list of the three biggest unsung heroes from India's World Cup 2011 triumph.
#1 Munaf Patel - 11 wickets in World Cup 2011
Fast bowler Munaf Patel supported Zaheer Khan to perfection in India's pace-bowling attack. While Khan ended as the joint-highest wicket-taker in the 2011 World Cup, Patel was among the leading wicket-takers as well.
Patel played in eight out of the nine matches for India in that mega event. He picked up 11 wickets in those eight games, with his economy rate being 5.36. The right-arm pacer bowled one maiden over in the tournament and also took a four-wicket haul.
He played an integral role in India's semifinal win against Pakistan by bowling a tidy 10-over spell of 2/40. Patel bamboozled Abdul Razzaq with a slower one and dismissed the well-set Mohammad Hafeez caught out to turn the game in India's favor.
#2 Ravichandran Ashwin - 4 wickets in 2 matches of 2011 WC
Ravichandran Ashwin was not a regular member of India's playing XI in the 2011 World Cup. India picked him for matches where the pitch assisted the spinners.
He played in the group stage match against the West Indies in Chennai and bowled a match-winning spell of 2/41. Later, he made it to the playing XI for the quarter-final against Australia in Ahmedabad. MS Dhoni gave him the ball in the first over itself. Ashwin did not disappoint him and returned with figures of 2/52.
The off-spinner picked up the important wickets of Shane Watson and Ricky Ponting in that quarter-final match.
#3 Ashish Nehra - 3 wickets in 3 matches of 2011 World Cup
Not many fans would know that the 2011 World Cup was the tournament where Ashish Nehra played his last ODI match. The left-arm pacer's last ODI appearance for India came in the semi-finals against Pakistan, where he bowled a fantastic spell of 2/33.
Nehra took the wickets of Umar Gul and Wahab Riaz in that game. Most importantly, he put pressure on the Pakistan team by maintaining an economy rate of 3.3. He missed the final because of an injury. Sreesanth replaced him in the playing XI.