Heaven after hell: How Team India became heroes after '07 World Cup loss

India players are jubilant after winning the 2011 World Cup at WankhedePicsAFP Getty ImagesWorld Cup 2011 triumphIndia erased the bad memories of an early 2007 World Cup exit by becoming the first country to win the coveted trophy on home soil Dhonirsquos six over longon sealed it for the hosts against Sri Lanka at the Wankhede Stadium Yuvraj Singh who scored 362 runs and bagged 15 wickets in nine matches was adjudged the Player of the Tournament India went on to win seven matches and lost one Their match vs England ended in a tieWorld T20Not much was expected from India in the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 event in September 2007 mdash the first ICC event after Indiarsquos early exit from the World Cup in March Indiarsquos lsquofavouritesrsquo tag went missing as senior pros like Sachin Tendulkar Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid decided to give the event a miss But Mahendra Singh Dhonirsquos young Team India proved critics wrong They went on to beat archrivals Pakistan to win the tournament in Johannesburg by five runsSachin Tendulkar in the Brisbane final against AustraliaCB series Down Under in 200708Sachin Tendulkar then 34 inspired India to the 200708 Commonwealth Bank series their first title Down Under after 23 years Dhoni decided to omit senior players like Ganguly and Dravid for the ODI triseries India beat hosts Australia in the first two matches of the bestofthree finals The Master Blaster scored 399 runs in 10 matches including 91 in the second final against Australia Sri Lanka were the third team in the seriesNo 1 in TestTeam India became the No 1 side in Tests for the first time after beating Sri Lanka 20 in December 2009 at the Brabourne Stadium The Dhoniled side went on to hold the top position for the next 21 months India regained the No 1 Test ranking under the leadership of Virat Kohli last yearAsia Cup titlesIndia won their fifth Asia Cup oneday title in 2010 after beating hosts Sri Lanka in Dambulla after a gap of 15 years Dhonirsquos India failed to retain the title in 2012 but they went on to win the Twenty20 version of the tournament held in Bangladesh in 2016Double Australian whitewash India won three backtoback Test series at home against Australia after the 2007 World Cup including two whitewashes 20 in 2010 and 40 in 2013 India opener Shikhar Dhawanrsquos 174ball 187 on debut in the third Test at Mohali was the highlight of Indiarsquos 40 triumph against the then World No 1 side in 2013 The 2013 show was Australiarsquos worst Test performance in 43 years since 1970 when they were beaten by an identical 04 margin by hosts South AfricaTeam India celebrate after winning the Champions Trophy in 20132013 Champions TrophyEntering as World Cup champions a lot was expected from India at the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy and they did not disappoint Dhonirsquos men won all the matches in the tournament before beating England by five runs in a lowscoring thrilling final that was dominated by the hosts for most of the time at Birmingham19match unbeaten streakIn Tests Team India were at their very best under the leadership of Virat Kohli They were unbeaten in 19 matches 15 wins and 4 draws before losing to Australia in Pune by 333 runs last month In the process India registered series wins over Sri Lanka South Africa West Indies New Zealand England and Bangladesh