2011 World Cup is an emotion for the Indian fans. Its the only second occasion post the 1983 World cup victory, when a billion fans rejoiced the auspicious day of being world champions. With it MS Dhoni became the second captain after Kapil Dev to have his name on the prestigious trophy. Every match in the 2011 World cup was special in itself. Many fans recall the final with Srilanka and semi final with Pakistan with a smile on their face. But if one has to choose the best of clashes, it was the quarter finals versus Australia which happened in Ahmedabad.

A top team like Australia, who were the defending champions and the team to claim past 3 world cups on a trot, were denied the 4th one by India in Ahmedabad, after a terrific game of cricket. The quarter final was a crucial encounter for both the teams, with India ending the hopes of Australia quite similar to the way they did in 2007 T20 World Cup. The victory against a Ponting led dominant Australian side eventually helped India gain tremendous confidence, which reflected in the semi-final and final of the tournament.

One of the closely contested encounters, it started with both the teams playing with their hearts on the sleeve. The last time India and Australia met in an ODI world cup was in the 2003 World Cup finals, where India was completely outplayed by Ponting's men. But this time it was going to be different. Opting to bat first, Australia looked solid with the bat initially. They used the Indian batting conditions very well and had a good eye on the ball. That's when the magic of Ashwin's spin put them on back foot. With his trademark carrom ball, he bamboozled Shane Watson, piercing the gap between bat and pad to uproot the stumps.

That's when Australian skipper Ponting stepped in. Cautiously starting, he slowly took the aggressive option later to score a much needed century for his team. He looked in his 2003 final elements, however he lacked support from everyone except Haddin who scored his half century. The Indian bowlers tightened up their lines and and put the Australian batters at bay, restricting their score to 260 runs. All our spinners did their job to perfection, but it was the turbanator Harbhajan Singh who proved to be the main man for India with 4 wickets to his name.

A target of 261 was not the most difficult one, but was certainly not the easiest knowing the fire Aussie bowlers had. And tackling the likes of Brett Lee, Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson, the duo of Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir showed their class to make their intentions clear. The two short men, stood tall against the Aussies to reach to their respective half centuries. But after the duo got out, going ahead was a difficult task. That's when Yuvraj Singh stepped in. Already under the fire for running out Gautam Gambhir after 3 missed attempts, he had a rather herculean task to achieve.

What further worried India more was the early dismissal of Dhoni. With 187/5, India needed run-a-ball 74 runs while facing one of the best bowling attacks in the world. And at such a crucial juncture, the two southpaws, Raina and Yuvraj rescued India. With a cancerous tumour in his body, Yuvraj fought for his nation. It was a contest of fire versus fire, with Yuvraj crunching his drives and maximums against the pacy Australians. He was very well complemented by Raina. The Australians tried to sledge him, being the weak link amongst the two, but his long six against Lee shut the mouths of Aussies.

With so much of it going on the field, it still wasn't pretty clear on which way the match was going. A pumped ul Australian team was giving all they could give on the field. And the home team supported by the spectators was not going to let loose the Aussies. The adrenaline was high, and was evident when one saw a 35 year old Brett Lee who was bleeding due to a rebounded ball while fielding, still coming to bowl as his team needed his services. And on the other side, an unfit Yuvraj, who vomitted blood in the last match was punishing him with full might. Eventually, Yuvraj drove one through the covers off a Brett Lee delivery to seal the fate of the match.

A pumped up Yuvraj did not shy away from showing what the victory meant to him. And dejected Australians had no other option but to get hold of themselves and understand that their run in the tournament was over. The high voltage contest termed by the media as Ponting versus Tendulkar, had the God of cricket on the winning side. And a collective team effort from Men in Blue sent the most feared team in world cup back home. This victory meant a lot to Indians, to the extent that the current Prime Minister of India (then Chief Minister of Gujarat) Hon. Shri Narendra Modi was seen doing first pumps and celebrations. This victory uplifted the Indian spirits exponentially, and thereafter the team looked invincible, and rightly so as team went on to be the world champion. This victory remains to be one of the most amazing victories for Indian cricket. And today as it still remains in the minds of Indian fans with the same intensity, with which it was played exactly 13 years ago.