ICC World Cup 2011: Where is every player from that victorious Indian team now?

2nd April 2011, a date that Indian Cricket team fans will never forget in their lifetime. That night in Mumbai was wrapped in history as MS Dhoni's men lifted the ICC World Cup 2011 beating Sri Lanka in the final. Indian captain MS Dhoni won the Player of the Match award for his 94 while Gautam Gambhir (97) played one of the greatest knocks of that World Cup. As Indian cricket team fans celebrate the 13th anniversary of India winning the ICC World Cup for the second time in their history, we take a look at all the players who were part of that team which won the title.

1. Virender Sehwag

Sehwag, the deadly opener who hit every first ball of the ICC World Cup 2011 for four in five matches, was unfortunately dismissed for a duck in the final. Lasith Malinga trapped him in front of the wicket in the first over. However, Sehwag played a pivotal role in India reaching the finals as he scored 380 runs at a strike rate of 122.58 in the tournament. Post the World Cup success, Sehwag represented India till 2013 and kept on playing in the Indian Premier League before announcing his retirement from all forms of cricket on 20 October 2015. He was appointed as the mentor of the Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in 2016 and performed the role till 2018. Sehwag now is a commentator and his Hindi commentary is one of the most loved and entertaining things in cricket now. 

2. Sachin Tendulkar 

The God of Indian Cricket, for whom the ICC World Cup 2011 was more special for the players and the fans, who was carried on the shoulders by Virat Kohli and others after the World Cup was India's highest run-getter at the tournament with 482 runs. However, Sachin could only add 18 from 14 balls in the final and was eventually dismissed by Lasith Malinga. Post the World Cup, Sachin played for two more years and then retired on 16 November 2013 after playing his 200th test. Post-retirement Sachin briefly appeared for commentary for Star Sports but mostly avoided public appearances. However, since his retirement, Sachin has been playing the role of a mentor of the Mumbai Indians team.

3. Gautam Gambhir 

Gambhir, the hero of the ICC World Cup final for India, scored the most important 97 runs and built a partnership with Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni after the early dismissal of Sachin and Sehwag in that final. After a successful international and IPL career, Gambhir announced his retirement on December 4, 2018. After that, he appeared as a commentator for Star Sports. Gambhir has served as a Member of Lok Sabha as well from the Indian political party BJP. The stylish southpaw now is a mentor of Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League. Earlier he served as the mentor of the Lucknow Super Giants as well.

4. Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli, the only active international player from that 2011 ICC World Cup winning team, now is a legend of the game and has taken it to another level. Playing at his first-ever World Cup, Kohli scared a crucial knock of 35 from 49 balls in the final to stitch a partnership with Gautam Gambhir. In that World Cup Kohli scored 282 runs and since then has broken multiple records playing for the "Men in Blue". Kohli now holds the record for most ODI hundreds (50), most T20I runs, most fifties in T20Is, most international man of the series awards and many other records. 

5. MS Dhoni

The captain of that World Cup-winning team is still going strong in the Indian Premier League even at the age of 42. Although the former Indian captain could only score 241 runs in the whole tournament, his unbeaten 97 runs in the final is regarded as one of the most important knocks in Indian cricket history. After retiring from international cricket on 15th August 2020, Dhoni kept on featuring for Chennai Super Kings in Indian Super Kings.

6. Yuvraj Singh 

Yuvraj, one of the most influential white-ball cricketers in Indian Cricket history was the player of the tournament in the 2011 World Cup. Yuvraj scored 362 runs with the bat and also took 15 wickets in the tournament. Post his retirement on 10 June 2019. Yuvraj started his own charity "YouWeCan" in 2015 which went on to become YouWeCan Ventures later. Yuvraj also created his chain of sports academies named Yuvraj Singh Centres of Excellence. He has appeared in the Road Safety World T20 series as well.

7. Suresh Raina 

Raina was another important clog in the Indian team which went on to win the ICC World Cup 2011. He played some crucial knocks during the World Cup along with some outstanding fielding efforts. However, Raina only played in four games in that World Cup. He retired on the same day as MS Dhoni's retirement. Raina now does commentary for Star Sports and also plays some T20 tournaments as well.

8. Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan Singh was one of the key bowlers for the Indian team which won the T20 and ODI World Cup in 2007 and 2011 respectively. Singh took 9 wickets in the 2011 edition of the World Cup at an economy of 4.48. Harbhajan announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on 24 December 2021. After that, he started playing in occasional T20 tournaments and is an active commentator for Star Sports. 

9. Zaheer Khan

Zaheer Khan was the joint-highest wicket-taker of the ICC World Cup 2021 with 21 wickets. Khan was top-class throughout the whole tournament and provided breakthroughs whenever MS Dhoni brought him into bowling. Zaheer announced his retirement on  15 October 2015. Before his retirement, in 2014.  Khan founded a fitness and sports company ProSport Fitness and Services. Zaheer currently is the Global Head of Cricket Development at Mumbai Indians. Along with that, he works as a commentator on Star Sports as well.

10. Munaf Patel 

Munaf Patel was one of the unsung heroes of the Indian Cricket team which won the world cup in 2011. In 8 games in the World Cup, Munaf claimed 11 wickets and had an economy rate of 4.55 in the final as well. Patel announced his retirement in November 2018. Though he was seen doing Hindi commentary briefly, Munaf has not been in public in recent years.

11. S.Sreesanth

Sreesanth played only one match in the ICC World Cup 2011 as he replaced an injured Ashish Nehra in the final against Sri Lanka in Mumbai. Sadly, he was not been able to take any wickets in the final. A lot happened for Sreesanth post the World Cup as he was accused of spot-fixing in 2013 and was banned from cricket which later was reduced to a seven-year ban. Sreesanth then appeared in many TV Shows and movies as well. After serving the ban, he returned to domestic cricket and then announced his retirement in March 2022. Sreesanth was last seen playing in the Legends League Cricket tournament.