“Dhoni finishes off in style. A magnificent strike into the crowd! India lift the World Cup after 28 years!” these words from Ravi Shastri brought goosebumps to the billion Indians watching the World Cup 2011 on the night of April 2nd, 2011.
April 2nd, 2011, holds a very special place in every Indian cricket fan’s heart. It was a day when MS Dhoni-led Indian cricket team won the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 and this prestigious trophy returned back to India after a long wait of 28 years.
MS Dhoni-led team India played brilliantly throughout the tournament and lived up to the expectations of millions of Indian cricket fans, in India and across the world. While many players went on to represent the nation, there are many cricketers who faded away after winning the World Cup 2011.
Here, in this article, we bring you a list of 5 cricketers who faded away after winning the World Cup 2011. Have a look:
1. Harbhajan Singh:
Harbhajan Singh is regarded as one of the finest bowlers to have ever played for team India. He has had a career to remember in both ODIs and Tests, having finished his career being the highest wicket-taker in Tests, just behind the legendary Sri Lankan bowler Muttiah Muralitharan.
Though he was picked in important tournaments after World Cup 2011, like the Asia Cup and the World T20 2016, Harbhajan Singh failed to live up to the expectations. With bowlers like Kuldeep Yadav, Ravichandra Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and others on-standby, Harbhajan Singh could n’t make a solid comeback and his career faded away.
2. Yusuf Pathan:
Yusuf Pathan, the destructive batsman from Baroda, is one of the most successful players of domestic circuits, however, he failed to carry on that success at the international level. Yusuf Pathan was a part of the playing squad of both World Cup 2007 and World Cup 2011, but could only play only one game in the former when he was included in the playing eleven for the final against Pakistan. Team India was already having a lot of options for the middle-order and this eventually ended the career of Yusuf Pathan.
His performance in the World Cup 2011 was very poor, he made 74 runs in 6 matches he played, with only one wicket in his name. Following this poor show, Yusuf Pathan faded away from the Indian cricket team.
3. S Sreesanth:
Sreesanth made his debut in the year 2006 and became an overnight star because of his mind-blowing performances against South Africa in Johannesburg, where he bowled a match-winning spin which led team India to a historic win.
Since then, there was no turning back, Sreesanth went on to become an integral part of team India. One of the most memorable performances came during the World Cup 2007.
Sreesanth was not selected for World Cup 2011 in the first place but he got a place in the team after the injury of Praveen Kumar. However, Sreesanth only got to play one match in the world cup, where he gave a very poor performance. Following this, he could never play ODI for India.
Later, his career took an ugly turn after he was accused of match-fixing in the Indian Premier League, following which he was banned for life from playing cricket.
4. Piyush Chawla:
Piyush Chawla was called as the ‘next big spinner’ for team India, after his heroics in U-19 at the age of 15. In 2006, Piyush Chawla made his debut in team India against England, when he was only 17 years-old and made his ODI debut next year.
However, things didn’t work out as expected as Piyush Chawla was overshadowed by the talented bowlers Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Harbhajan Singh in the team.
Piyush Chawla was a part of World Cup 2011, where he played in three matches and took just 4 wickets in his name. Following his performance, he was dropped from the squad. However, he has been a consistent feature in IPL.
5. Munaf Patel:
Fast bowler Munaf Patel was not seen representing team India after World Cup 2011. During the tournament, he emerged out one of the most successful bowlers, having taken 11 wickets in 8 matches of World Cup 2011.
After the world cup, he got his last chance to play the ODI series on the West Indies and England. Later, he retired from the game.
