Best XI from the World Cup-winning teams this decade

A calendar decade is about to come to an end, which makes all of us wonder how quickly time has flown by. We saw three different World champions in this decade (50 over World Cups) – MS Dhoni’s India in 2011, Michael Clarke’s Australia in 2015 and Eoin Morgan’s England in 2019. Each triumph had its share of emotions, ones that made up tales worth remembering forever.

The 50-over World Cups faced still competition from the World T20, but the former reigned supreme, as one would expect, in every aspect. It drew more attention, more passion and most importantly, it had more intensity and raw desire to win from the players. All of that summed up beautifully to give us three memorable World Cups.

Celebrating these three amazing World Cups, let’s take a look at the best XI among the World Cup-winning teams from 2011, 2015 and 2019.

Best XI from the World Cup-winning teams:

1. Sachin Tendulkar

The 2011 World Cup meant more to the Master Blaster than anyone else. It was going to be his sixth and last attempt to win the trophy and he did live up to the cliche “Fight every day like it’s your last”. It really was the last and there was no dearth of inspiration for the great man to give his all in what was going to be his final attempt.

Every time Sachin Tendulkar came out to bat, the hunger was palpable and he clearly looked like the ominous force he once was, especially in the late 90s. After centuries against England and South Africa in the group stages, he chipped in with a crucial half-century against Australia in the quarterfinal and Pakistan in the semifinal.

He started on a positive note in the final, but the brilliance of Lasith Malinga ended his day abruptly. Nevertheless, India went on to win the World Cup and the 482 runs which came from Sachin Tendulkar’s bat turned out to be pivotal. As Kohli rightfully said, it was time to carry him on the country’s shoulders as a mark of respect for burdening so many expectations for so long.