Team India: Celebrating 2011 World Cup Cricket

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What would be life without cricket? True, but it’s almost impossible to imagine the social and cultural ethos of modern India without the obsession for the willow and leather-strapped Kookaburra ball. The limited overs version has captured the imagination of the subcontinent like never-before and the 50-over One-Day International World Cup denotes the ultimate showpiece of the game. Hosting the 2011 World Cup tournament in the Indian subcontinent for the  third time with the jazz and jamboree that comes with it in the region, was a fantasy come true for the 14 participating teams, their fans and the media, not to forget the bevy of sponsors and companies supporting the sport. The icing on the cake has been, obviously, Dhoni’s  ‘Daredevils’ recapturing the World Cup for India on the home turf that Kapil’s Devils had won for the first time under dramatic circumstances in England in 1983. The ‘28-year itch’, as it was popularly known till Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Team India ended the wait in the final, played in Mumbai, was a dream that almost every Indian living, wanted to see it fulfilled in their lifetime. There is nothing better than the written word and sizzling photographs to keep alive the golden memories and charged-up emotions of those wonderful 43 days in the subcontinent, and the magnificent six off Dhoni’s bat that lit up the whole of India on April 2, Circa 2011. It’s with these thoughts that the Times of India presents this book, a must-have for both the cricket aficionados and cognoscenti. Smashing colour photographs depicting both the action and turning points for all the 49 matches with snazzy captions, incisive match reports combined with recollection from background material and analysis, stats and famous quotes, scenes from the Opening Ceremony, India’s celebration on winning the Cup and World Cup history, this book is a collector’s item for cricket lovers.