![]() India's World Cup crusade started on a disastrous note, as they lost to Bangladesh in the opener, leaving them with two must-win matches in their group. All Indian batsmen, barring Yuvraj Singh (47), faltered against the pace bowling of Mashrafe Mortaza and the left arm spin of Abdur Razzak and Mohammad Rafique from Bangladesh. ![]() At Trinidad in Queen's Park Oval, on 23 March, the Indian pace bowlers made early inroads, dismissing the danger men, Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara early. However, Upul Tharanga and Chamara Silva joinly contributed handsomely, making half centuries each and the Sri Lankan innings ended for 254 for the loss of 6 wickets. The Indian batting power terribly crumbled against the variety and might Sri Lankan bowling attack, with only Rahul and Sehwag showing some confrontation. Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni fell for ducks, and Yuvraj was run out for 6. Muttiah Muralitharan took 3 wickets, winning him the Man of the Match award. India were all out for only 185, considered surprising given India's batting strength and the batting-friendly nature of the Queen's Park Oval. With one victory and two losses, India was hence knocked out of the World Cup. Bangladesh's win over Bermuda confirmed India's exit from the World Cup. It was also the first time since 1992 that the Indian cricket team failed to progress to the latter stages of the tournament. After the World Cup debacle, beleaguered coach Greg Chappell resigned from his post along with all his support staffs. However, Dravid retained his captaincy, which is soon gave up after the England tour that very year, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni took over the mantle of captaincy. Following the poor show at the World Cup there were quite a lot of question and debates raised on the players. Attacks on players homes and protests by infuriated fans, especially in Bengaluru and Mumbai. The 2007 Indian World Cup Team Comprised: Robin Uthappa Virender Sehwag Rahul Dravid (Captain) Sachin Tendulkar Yuvraj Singh Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Wicket-Keeper) Ajit Agarkar Harbhajan Singh Munaf Patel Zaheer Khan Irfan Pathan Anil Kumble Dinesh Karthik (Reserve Wicketkeeper) Shanthakumaran Sreesanth India's record: 1-2 Australia's record: 11-0 (Champions) (Last Updated on : 12-12-2011) |
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