India's 2011 World Cup winning team: Where are they now? 

The 2011 World Cup victory was undoubtedly one of the most exciting moments in the history of Indian cricket. This success came about as a result of the collective efforts of the fifteen members of the Indian squad.

The likes of Tendulkar and Sehwag went on to retire as heroes. The likes of Kohli and Ashwin, who still play, have become stars. Also, some of the players went into a downward spiral and are shadows of the players they used to be.

This slideshow focuses on the fifteen members of the World Cup winning squad. It looks at how their careers progressed in the aftermath of undoubtedly the biggest moment in their cricketing lives and gives an information about the whereabouts these players in the present day.

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#1 - Virender Sehwag

India v South Africa: Group B - 2011 ICC World Cup

After the 2011 World Cup, the legendary Indian opener's career went into a tailspin. He put up inconsistent performances till early 2013, after which he was dropped from both the Test and limited overs sides. He continued playing in the domestic circuit and in the Indian Premier League (IPL) till January 2016, after which he announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.

After retirement, Sehwag's second innings in life has been almost as exciting as his first. He has become an extremely active social media personality, drawing great acclaim and occasionally has raised eyebrows for his tweets. In addition to that, he has taken well to Hindi commentary and has become one of the most loved commentators in India. Lastly, he has also ventured into the coaching and mentorship space, serving in various capacities for the Kings XI Punjab franchise.

He also applied for the position of Head Coach of the Indian Cricket Team after Anil Kumble's unceremonious departure. However, he was rather unsuccessful in this endeavour, with former Team Director Ravi Shastri being chosen for the position.

#2 - Sachin Tendulkar

The 'God' of Indian Cricket, Sachin Tendulkar, was in sublime form in the 2011 World Cup, finishing the tournament as the second-highest run-getter. However, almost immediately after the World Cup, he went into a bad run of form which persisted until he finally announced his retirement.

Tendulkar played ODIs until the Asia Cup of 2012 - the tournament in which he got his much-awaited 100th international century. In December of 2012, he announced his retirement from the ODI format. However, he continued playing Test matches until his 200th Test match in November 2013, post which he retired from all forms of cricket. He received a grand farewell in that match, and it was an emotional moment for all followers of cricket.

After his retirement, he is still involved with the game of cricket. Currently, he serves as the 'Icon' of the Mumbai Indians IPL Franchise, is a member of the Cricket Advisory Committee of the BCCI, and makes occasional appearances on cricket-related broadcasts as an analyst.

#3 - Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir's resilient innings of 97 in the final of the World Cup was surely special, and he was one of the unsung heroes of India's victory. However, despite his stellar showing in the World Cup of 2011, he was dropped from the Test side in 2012 and limited overs side in 2013.

While he did make brief comebacks to the Test side in 2014 and 2016, his international career never quite took off again, and it is highly likely that he will end his career playing domestic cricket.

In spite of his topsy-turvy international career, Gautam Gambhir remained a consistent performer in the IPL, leading the Kolkata Knight Riders till 2017. However, during IPL 2018, on his return to the Delhi Daredevils, he struggled to perform and eventually dropped himself from the side and handed over the captaincy duties to Shreyas Iyer. It remains to be seen whether he makes a comeback in the next edition of IPL.

#4 - Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli, the youngest member of the World Cup winning squad of 2011, has gone on to become arguably the best player and unarguably the biggest cricketing celebrity in the world.

In both limited overs and Test matches, he has plundered record after record and has firmly cemented himself as one of the greatest players in cricketing history. Further, despite being branded as a brash, irresponsible individual early on in his career, he has gone on to become a youth icon of India and has inspired people around the globe.

Handed the Test captaincy in 2015 and the limited overs captaincy in 2017, he currently serves as the captain of the Indian Cricket Team and has led the team in one of its most successful phases. Further, he has been a consistent figure in the IPL, leading the Royal Challengers Bangalore and performing well on a personal front every season.

#5 - Yuvraj Singh

The player of the series in the 2011 World Cup, Yuvraj Singh was on the top of the world after India's historic win. However, just under a year later, he received a piece of news that was heartbreaking not only for him but also for the entire cricketing fraternity: he was diagnosed with cancer.

Yuvraj, being the fighter he is, recovered from the horrific disease and made his comeback to international cricket in a matter of months. The fact that he came back to play international cricket at all is marvellous, but his career was never the same, and Yuvraj never managed to become the same player.

Despite his inconsistency at the international level, he remained in the fray for international selection and received numerous recalls after being dropped. However, because of his recent struggles, it seems as if time is ticking on Yuvraj's career and one of India's greats will have to retire in obscurity playing domestic cricket.

#6 - MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni, the man who captained India to victory and hit the winning six, would almost certainly consider the World Cup of 2011 to be his proudest moment as captain. However, in the direct aftermath of the World Cup, Dhoni experienced numerous ups and downs in his captaincy.

While he did win an IPL with the Chennai Super Kings in 2011, he presided over one of the worst phases in Indian cricket: eight back-to-back Test defeats in overseas conditions, and complete humiliation of the team.

Despite his lacklustre performance in overseas Tests, Dhoni proved to be one of India's best captains. He led the team to Champions Trophy win, some memorable Test victories overseas, and many bilateral and multilateral series wins.

Having retired from Test matches in 2014, Dhoni relinquished the limited overs captaincy in 2017; however, he remains a permanent fixture in the team and is certain to play till the 2019 World Cup.

#7 - Suresh Raina

After the 2011 World Cup, Raina proved to be an essential member of the limited-overs sides in a period of transformation, despite poor performances in Test cricket. Even though his Test career was practically over, Raina was considered one of India's best limited overs players.

However, after lacklustre returns for an extended period of time, Raina was dropped from the ODI side in October 2015 and the T20 side March 2016. Despite making brief comebacks in T20 cricket in early 2017 and early 2018, and an ODI comeback in mid-2018, Raina currently finds no place in any of the Indian squads, and it will be difficult for him to make his way into the team for the 2019 World Cup.

However, he still remains a high-value stock for the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL and is a consistent feature for Uttar Pradesh in domestic cricket, keeping him in the fray for the limited overs sides.

#8 - Yusuf Pathan

India v Bangladesh: Group B - 2011 ICC World Cup

Yusuf Pathan's contribution to the World Cup victory was rather minimal, and his international career only lasted for a little under a year after that. Once thought to have had the potential to be a destructive batting all-rounder who could pitch in with a few overs, Yusuf Pathan - despite occasional displays of excellence - never really managed to do justice to the potential in him.

While his international career was rather short and he is almost certain to end his career playing domestic cricket, he has been excellent in the IPL - being a standout dominating player for the Kolkata Knight Riders and even now making valuable contributions for the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Pathan, who has in all probability given up hopes of an international recall, can still be mighty proud of his few outstanding innings for India and his match-winning displays in the IPL. He still plies his trade for Baroda in domestic cricket, and occasionally produces those outstanding performances in IPL.

#9 - Harbhajan Singh

Pakistan v India - 2011 ICC World Cup Semi-Final

Harbhajan Singh's career, like that of many of the other senior players in the side, went into a downward spiral post the 2011 World Cup. In September 2011, he was dropped from the ODI side, and soon, in October of the same year, he was dropped from the Test side.

Though he received T20 international recalls in 2012 and 2016, and Test recalls in 2012, 2013, and 2015, all of these returns to the side were sporadic, some lasting only for a solitary match.

Meanwhile, he has remained a consistent figure in the IPL, playing for - and occasionally captaining - the Mumbai Indians until the 2017 edition of the tournament, before he moved to the Chennai Super Kings in 2018.

Nowadays, in addition to playing in the IPL, Harbhajan Singh occasionally plays for Punjab in domestic cricket and has recently ventured into commentary, indicating that his playing days are coming to the end.

#10 - Zaheer Khan

Pakistan v India - 2011 ICC World Cup Semi-Final

Zaheer Khan was India's star with the ball in the 2011 World Cup, and that was certainly one of his finest phases in international cricket, at least in the limited overs format. However, that being said, his limited-overs career did last only until the next year, with him being dropped from the ODI and T20 teams in 2012 to never be recalled.

His Test career, on the other hand, was still relatively successful, despite being dropped for an extended period of time. Notwithstanding the fact that he was dropped on several occasions in between 2011 and 2013, he ended his Test career - and by extension, his international career - on his own terms in 2014, announcing his retirement from all forms of international cricket.

Despite ending his international and domestic career in 2014, Zaheer Khan remained a consistent feature in every season of the IPL until 2017, leading the Delhi Daredevils in his last few seasons. Post his retirement from the IPL, 'Zak', as he is affectionally called, has ventured into becoming a cricket analyst, making appearances on television and online shows.

#11 - S Sreesanth

Almost undoubtedly the most controversial name on this list, Sreeshanth played his last limited overs game in April 2011 (the World Cup final), his last Test match in August 2011, and his last game in professional cricket in May 2013, due to his involvement in the spot-fixing scandal during IPL 2013.

Even though Sreeshanth has always maintained that he was innocent in the matter, the investigating authorities found him to be involved, and this involvement had dire consequences for the bowler from Kerala. It not only led to the BCCI disciplinary committee banning him for life but it also resulted in Sreeshanth becoming extremely unpopular among fans.

Despite several attempts at appealing the life ban that was handed to him, Sreesanth has been unable to return to professional cricket. Instead, he has ventured into the entertainment industry, making appearances on certain television shows and is due to make his film debut soon.

#12 - Piyush Chawla

India v New Zealand - 2011 ICC World Cup Warm Up Game

Piyush Chawla was extremely fortunate to be a member of India's World Cup-winning squad, and the fact that he has only played five international matches in the seven years since - the last one coming in 2012 - is a further testament to the fact.

Chawla had a minimal role to play in India's victory and has not featured in ODIs for India since then. Further, besides a one-Test comeback in 2012 and four T20 internationals in the same year, he has not played for India at all.

Despite his disappointing international career, Chawla has been a constant performer for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, often being underrated. He has churned wickets for them season after season and has also made some handy contributions with the bat, most famously hitting the winning runs in IPL 2014.

In domestic cricket, Chawla played for Uttar Pradesh till 2017, captaining them on several occasions before he switched sides to Gujarat, the state he currently represents.

#13 - Ravichandran Ashwin

Australia v India - 2011 ICC World Cup Quarter-Final

Ravichandran Ashwin, who was an extremely young and inexperienced player at the time of the victory, has gone on to become one of the world's premier spinners, particularly in the red-ball format.

Even though he initially made his name through the IPL, Ashwin has, over the years, assumed the role of a red-ball specialist, and this led to him being dropped from the India ODI and T20 sides in 2017.

However, despite his indifferent form in white-ball cricket, he has established himself as arguably the finest bowler in Test match cricket, and almost unarguably the finest spinner in Indian conditions.

Progressive dips in his limited overs form led to Ashwin, a player who made his name through the IPL and established himself as one of the finest players in the tournament, becoming a far less threatening spinner.

He played for the Chennai Super Kings till 2015, the Rising Pune Supergiant(s) in 2016 and 2017, and has now gone on to play for the Kings XI Punjab as their skipper.

#14 - Munaf Patel

India v England: Group B - 2011 ICC World Cup

Munaf Patel was considered by many to be the unsung hero of India's 2011 World Cup victory, and it looked as if he was finally going to deliver on his great promise. However, post the 2011 World Cup, his career alarmingly went into a downward spiral.

Munaf received a Test recall that year only to be dropped after two matches. His limited overs career, too, ended later in the year, with him featuring in only two more series.

He constantly featured in domestic cricket, though, toiling away year after year for Baroda. He also remained in and around the IPL, playing in all seasons besides the 2015 season.

However, off-late, Patel's involvement in professional cricket has gone considerably down, and pacer who was once considered to be the future of Indian cricket has not played in a professional cricket match since IPL 2017, in which he played for the Gujarat Lions.

#15 - Ashish Nehra

Pakistan v India - 2011 ICC World Cup Semi-Final

When Ashish Nehra played the World Cup final (the match which would turn out to be his last ODI), few would have thought that he would be playing international cricket in November 2017. However, through sheer willpower and tenacity, Nehra was able to prolong his career and have a resurgence as a T20 specialist.

Between 2011 and 2016, Nehra would alternate his time between nursing his numerous injuries and playing in domestic cricket and the IPL. However, extremely impressive showings for the Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2014 and IPL 2015, led to his return to the national set-up in early 2016.

Good performances for India and a decent IPL returns for the Sunrisers Hyderabad meant that Nehra remained in the squad till November 2017, after which he announced his retirement from all forms of cricket and left the game on his own terms.