The year 2011 brought glad tidings for Indian cricket as the '
men-in-blue' led by mercurial skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni held
aloft the World Cup after a long gap
of 27 years and swashbuckling opener Virender Sehwag became the
highest scorer in one day format by cracking a double century
surpassing compatriot batting legend Sachin Tendulkar's record
of unbeaten 200 runs but the team ended up losing its numero
uno spot in Test ranking, getting trounced 0-4 by England
on foreign territory.
Tendulkar finally added one of the rare honours to his already
feathered cap which had been eluding him in a glittering career
by being part of the India team that won the World Cup on home
soil.
The images of Dhoni heaving a six to win the final against
Sri Lanka in Mumbai, and jubilant players carrying a misty-eyed
Tendulkar on their shoulders and embracing tearful Yuvraj Singh,
were watched by millions of fans glued to their TV sets
across India.
That magical night was the culmination of an effort that
began under the tutelage of Indian cricket team's coach,
Gary Kirsten, and its captain Dhoni from the time they paired
up in 2007 to steer India from a team prone to capitulation to
a band of world beaters.
That result ended a 28-year drought of smelling the World Cup.
Winning the World Cup was a dream harboured by the likes of
Tendulkar since he debuted almost two decades back.
This was what Indian cricket teams had aspired for since
Kapil Dev raised the trophy on the Lord's balcony in 1983, and
it helped erase the bitter memories of 1992, 1996, 1999 and,
most famously, 2007.
However, India's triumph in the one-day arena was not matched
in Tests, where they suffered the humiliation of failing to win
a single game on a full tour of England in which they were blanked
in four Tests and lost the top ranking in Test cricket to their
opponents in the process.
England reclaimed the No 1 ranking for the first time since
1979.
If there was one more figure that gave Indian fans a defining
moment in 2011, it was Sehwag.
He earned the most impressive milestone of the year, hitting
a world-record score in one-day internationals by smashing 219
off 149 balls while leading Team India against the West Indies
in Indore, December 8, for the highest individual score in ODIs.
Tendulkar had held the record up till now at 200.
A series win over West Indies followed, during which the debut
performance of R Ashwin in the Tests and Sehwag's brutal inning
in the ensuing ODIs gave the fans something to write home about.
But the year did not end on a happy note as the ageing Indian
team, despite the presence of the trio -- Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid
and VVS Laxman --suffered a punch in the Boxing Day Test -- a
humiliating defeat of 122 runs by the hands of a youthful Australian
squad, forcing the Indian cricket to wear their thinking caps on
what strategy to adopt against the Aussies next year as bouncy
tracks are going to make life difficult for the Indian squad, which
is used to adding wins to its kitty on placid turfs back home.
The spotlight was trained on Tendulkar, who has not been able to
shake off the demon of scoring his hundredth hundred for the last
nine months.
As Tendulkar carry the burden of expectations again for the
milestone century to the next Test match -- it is now battleground
Sydney.
