The date of April 2 will always be one that is recalled with a great deal of joy by cricket fans in India. It was on this day, exactly 11 years ago, that India won the ICC World Cup for the second time, and for many current fans, it was also the first real taste of success.
While the win in 1983 is folklore, for most of the younger lot now, it was just something that happened before they were born. So, for them, 2011 was as real as it got.
This was a win that also was related to the current stars. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, whose match-winning six is still one of the lasting images of that win at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, is still plying his trade, even though many of his peers have moved to different roles.
So is Virat Kohli, once of the youngsters in the side, who is now a senior statesman in Indian cricket. As is Ravichandran Ashwin.
Gautam Gambhir, who played a critical inning in the final, has moved to politics and now also is a mentor for the Lucknow Super Giants side in the Indian Premier League.
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Harbhajan Singh too is looking into politics, while the charismatic Yuvraj Singh, who was one of the success stories of the 2011 World Cup, has retired from all forms of cricket.
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The rest like Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and the likes, too are in coaching or mentoring roles, while Sachin Tendulkar keeps his profile as mentor of the Mumbai Indians.
The inimitable Virender Sehwag has found his way into commentary, as has Suresh Raina.
Others, like Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Yusuf Pathan and Piyush Chawla, are just fringe character roles in the great Indian cricket drama.
Irrespective of their present profile, these are the players who were and are the names that come to mind for most of the cricket fans. The children of 2011 are now adults, and they still cherish that day like it happened yesterday.
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Indian cricket owes a lot to that victory, in terms of success and financial largesse for cricketers from then till now. Dhoni became a legend, and not one other captain has been able to emulate his success, before or after.
It was possibly on April 2, 2011, that cricket finally came home, in real terms and metaphorically.
