What's left of India's victorious 2011 World Cup team?

The Fab 15 of 2011

When Team India lifted the coveted World Cup trophy in 2011 after 28 long years, it was a dream come true for millions of cricket fans. The team that achieved this remarkable feat seemed like a dream team that had a dream run on their way to becoming world conquerors. It seemed that none of those Fab 15 could put a foot wrong and a new era of Indian domination had dawned in world cricket akin to the 1999 World Cup winning Aussies.

However, 4 years down the line, things have changed significantly. On Thursday, India announced the list of the 30 probables for the upcoming World Cup in 2015. Only 4 members of the 15-man squad who took India all the way through in 2011 were retained. Big names like Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan, who all had a lion’s share in that magnificent run 4 years back have been dropped. Let’s take a look at how things have changed for Team India in the last 4 years.

Team India – Then

Team India walked into the 2011 World Cup as favourites and they walked out of it as champions. The performances that the entire team gave was worthy of a champion side and they justified their favourites billing. Each aspect of the team clicked in all the crucial matches and the team kept moving forward like a well-oiled unit. Almost all members of the team brought their A game to the fore and even if one or two members were having a bad day, some other team member stepped up and compensated for it.

Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar gave a solid start to the team in almost every game. While Sehwag went about blasting the bowlers from the word go, Tendulkar played at a sedate pace, thereby setting up a platform for the batsmen to come. Gambhir and Virat Kohli then used to build on these starts by keeping the scoreboard ticking in the middle overs.

The lower middle-order comprised of Yuvraj, Suresh Raina/Yusuf Pathan and MS Dhoni. While Yusuf wasn’t having the best of tournaments, Raina played some real crucial knocks in games that mattered. MSD made amends for a rather quiet tournament with the bat by playing a crucial knock in the final.

But if things weren’t going India’s way in any of the games, they surely were going the Yuvi way. The southpaw was having an amazing tournament with both bat and ball. Game after game, he played some really crucial knocks and rescued the team and whenever the team needed a breakthrough, he stepped in and delivered. His consistency right through the tournament earned him the Player of the Tournament award.

The bowling was led by the inspirational Zaheer Khan who arguably was in the form of his life during the mega event. Time and again, he used to provide crucial breakthroughs by way of his trickery with the ball. He was ably assisted by Munaf Patel who kept things tight by bowling a consistent line and length. The other two pacers, Nehra and Sreesanth did an average job whenever they were called upon.

The spin department was largely handled by Harbhajan Singh with Yuvi’s assistance after Piyush Chawla was dropped for his below par performances. Ashwin too played his part whenever he was called upon.

Yuvraj Singh celebrates after the win against Australia in 2011

One thing that really stood out for Team India in the 2011 World Cup was their fielding. They were a little sloppy in the beginning but as the World Cup wore on, the fielding saw a huge improvement. Especially in the knockout stages, it was great to see the Indian fielders throw themselves around to save every single run. Veterans like Sehwag and Zaheer were not afraid to put in the dives to save a few runs.

All in all, the combined efforts of the team led India to the summit of world cricket and things looked really rosy for Indian Cricket.

The Transition

After just 4 months of the high of winning the World Cup, India were brought back down to Earth after the 4-0 whitewash in the 2011 Test series against England. Even in the ODI series, the world champions could not win a single game as they were beaten 3-0.

Many attributed those losses to some missing star players in the Indian outfit owing to injuries or burnout on account of a long and strenuous World Cup campaign which was followed on its heels by the IPL.

Later that year, the West Indies toured India. The way a full strength India defeated the West Indies in both Tests and ODIs, many felt that the loss to England was just an aberration and the Men in Blue then embarked on the tour of Australia thinking that they could possibly tame an Australian team that was low on confidence.

However, what transpired over the course of the next 3 months was difficult to believe for the Indian fans as their team lost another Test series 4-0 and were not able to make it to the finals of the tri-series. This time no excuse would have worked as it was a full strength squad that had been annihilated by the Aussies.

Despite repeated poor performances, the selectors gave a long rope to the veterans on the basis of their performances for the Indian team in the past. However, things were just not working out for the subcontinental giants as they made an early exit in the 2012 World T20 as well.

Later that year, the former No. 1 Test team lost a home Test series versus England. This was India’s first home Test series loss in 8 years. Soon after, India were beaten by Pakistan in an ODI series at home. It was after these ignominious performances that many ex-cricketers and fans began to call for the heads of the underperforming veterans.

After lacklustre performances in the opening 2 Tests of the home series against Australia, both Viru and Bhajji were dropped which was their last bit of action in Indian colours. The young brigade that blanked the Australian 4-0 was in supreme form in the 2013 Champions Trophy as it made its way to the trophy by way of an unbeaten run. The likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami put in some really consistent performances thereafter and thereby shut the door on the veterans who were looking to make a comeback.

Though Zaheer and Gambhir made comebacks to the Test team, they did not have much of an impact. After Yuvraj made a comeback to the game after his battle with cancer, he has looked far from the player that he once was. Infact, there are many who attribute India’s loss in the World T20 final earlier this year to the 32-year-old’s slow paced innings. That was the last bit of action that the all-rounder from Punjab had in Indian colours.

Team India – Now

Dhoni, Kohli, Raina and Ashwin are the only remnants of the 2011 squad. While the skipper has had a rollercoaster ride as a captain since 2011, he has cemented his place as one of the best finishers in the world by playing some fabulous knocks.

Kohli has been in stupendous form right through these 4 years and his extended purple patch has solely carried India to many wins. Raina has had a mixed last 4 years wherein he has been in and out of the team. However, off late he seems to be in a rich vein of form and is making the most of it. Ashwin too has a mixed run of form over the last 4 years. However, his usefulness with both bat and ball has made him a real crucial member of the Indian outfit.

The young brigade that won the Champions Trophy in 2013

All the other faces in the Indian team at present, are the ones who have emerged during the last couple of years. In fact out of the 30 probables, 24 are under 30 years of age. There is stiff competition among the youngsters to occupy every slot in the team as there are more than a couple of contenders for almost every spot. Many of these players have left for the tour of Australia, which is where the upcoming world cup is going to be played.

The other 11

Interestingly, out of the 11 members that are not in the list of probables, only Sachin Tendulkar has hung up his boots. The remaining 10, spare Sreesanth who was banned for his involvement in the infamous 2013 IPL spot-fixing saga, are still active cricketers. Almost all of them ply their trade in the IPL and the Indian domestic circuit.

In fact, Gambhir happens to be the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders, a team that has won the IPL twice under his leadership. However, chances of a comeback seem to be really bleak for these players, as age is not on their side and the young guns that are part of the present Indian team are fairly consistent.

Sourav Ganguly, a player under whom most of these players blossomed, has clearly stated that the Team India door is closed for Yuvraj, Harbhajan and Sehwag. Interestingly, Yuvraj himself has stated that he may never play for Indian again.

Piyush Chawla and Gautam Gambhir are the only two players who may have a realistic chance of donning the Indian colours again. Though Zaheer’s mentor feels that he isn’t finished yet, chances of a comeback seem low owing to his age and his injury-prone body. The likes of Nehra, Yusuf and Munaf too don’t stand too much of a chance given that they have fallen way down the pecking order.

The below tweet by Harsha Bhogle aptly sums up the fate of the Fab 5:

If Sehwag, Yuvi, Gambhir, Zaheer & Harbhajan don't play for India again, we must stand up & applaud their contribution to Indian cricket

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) December 4, 2014