What if Wednesday | What if MS Dhoni got out for a duck in 2011 World Cup final

When MS Dhoni hit Nuwan Kulasekara over long on for a mighty maximum, it was the end of a frustrating era for Indian fans, the pain and despair of the 2007 World Cup became a thing of the past, Sachin Tendulkar was finally able to live his dream and he ran in to celebrate what was a fulfilling day at the office. But in a parallel universe, things were pretty bleak, after Dhoni, who promoted himself up in the order to tackle the threat of Muttiah Muralitharan, was out for a duck and India floundered on their run-chase of 275. 

A struggling MS Dhoni is clueless, unaware of the things surrounding him, and suddenly announces his resignation from captaincy. BCCI, left with no choice, makes Yuvraj Singh the captain of the limited-overs side while entrusting the Test captaincy to Gautam Gambhir. However, Yuvraj fails to sustain the rigours of captaincy, before scraping the way to a series victory over depleted West Indies while the Gambhir-led India suffer a 3-1 Test loss to England. With Yuvraj suddenly diagnosed with cancer, India are now in a catastrophic situation, with the white-ball captaincy wheel turning to Virender Sehwag, even though it could well have been Gambhir. 

Relaxed from the captaincy responsibilities, MS Dhoni further turns the wheel to emerge as India’s most dependable batsman alongside Kohli and the duo strike a fine partnership in the Galle Test to take India over the line. That subsequently leads to Dhoni spending more time in becoming a handy red-ball player and for the time being, he actually becomes a better Test player than an ODI player, securing a Man of the Match award in India’s white-wash of Australia at home in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2013. 

With Dravid and Laxman now gone for good, India bring Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane to bolster the middle-order, and now Sachin is under pressure to retire. He decides the home series against Australia is his last, which gives Gambhir insurance to give a permanent place to Rahane. Gambhir slowly becomes the best leader in all formats but his batting form dwindles further, and by the time India plays South Africa in 2013, he hits an all-time low. His Bradmanesque batting performance was a thing of the past, with his position now coming under danger after a couple of ducks in the Rainbow nation. India then lose to New Zealand, with none of the senior members being able to score enough runs, but the priority is definitely on winning the 2014 World T20. 

Virat Kohli has now established himself as a future leader and an ODI legend, with the 2014 Adelaide Test seeing him score a couple of daddy hundreds. Dhoni joins the fun too, scoring a 175 unbeaten as Gambhir, carrying his bad form from England, gets out for a 13-ball 1. Although India did manage to defy a rampant Nathan Lyon to go 1-0 up, Gambhir, who was genuinely out of his mental balance, announces his retirement from the sport. India are desperate, with Kohli leading the side. Although India falter in the second Test, by drawing the Boxing Day and winning the SCG in the last session thriller, they secure their first series victory in Australia. 

Balance is restored as the team goes to the World Cup Down Under with Kohli as the captain, who has total experience of leading the side in five matches. However, with Gambhir not there, India are now forced to open with Murali Vijay alongside Rohit Sharma. It turns out to be a masterstroke as the Tamil Nadu batsman manages to down Pakistan and Zimbabwe to huge hundreds and carries the momentum to the semi-final, with two losses coming against South Africa and West Indies. India face South Africa at the Eden Park in Auckland in the second semi-final where New Zealand lock horns with Australia at the SCG.  

With Trent Boult to bowl the final over after an economical penultimate over by Matt Henry, Dhoni fails to connect the first two balls but two wides and a four later, the equation has now come down to 8 off 3. It is the Dhoni territory and Boult is under pressure. Although he attempts two yorkers in a row, Dhoni smashes them with sheer disdain, helicoptering it for two maximums. India win their second World Cup and Virat Kohli joins Kapil Dev as just the second Indian skipper to lift the title for the country.