Sport:

INDIA WIN THE 2011 ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP

Twenty-eight years after the Indian team won the World Cup in 1983, the country’s dream of enhancing its reputation as a major force in cricket found glorious realization at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai.

India beat Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup final.  This is the first time that a host nation has won the World Cup on home soil.

Player of the Final: Mahender Singh Dhoni

Player of the Tournament: Yuvraj Singh

Most Runs: Tillakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka, 500 runs)

Most Wickets: Shahid Afridi (Pakistan , 21 from 8 matches)

Number of teams: 14

Hosts: Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka

Official Event Ambassador: Sachin Tendulkar

Official Song: ‘De Ghuma Ke’, composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

Official Mascot: ‘Stumpy’, a young elephant

---

Sachin is Wisden Leading Cricketer of the Year 2010

Wisden, regarded as the Bible of cricket, has named Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar as the leading cricketer in the world for the year 2010.

The iconic batsman became the seventh recipient of the Wisden award after team mate Virender Sehwag, Australians Ricky Ponting and Shane Warne, England’s Andrew Flintoff, Sri Lanka ’s Muttiah Muralitharan and South African Jacques Kallis.

In 2007, Wisden had identified Mr Tendulkar as the player to have won such an award for 1998 - had it been instituted then. The 37-year-old Mr Tendulkar scored more than 1500 Test runs, including seven centuries in the year 2010 averaging 78.

In February 2010, he became the first in world cricket to score a double-hundred in One-day Internationals, while in December last year he became the first man to score 50 Test tons, both landmarks achieved against the best pace attack in world cricket – South Africa.

---

TENNIS

BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells

Men’s

Winner: Novak Djokovic (Serbia )

Runner-up: Rafael Nadal (Spain )

Women’s

Winner: Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark )

Runner-up: Marion Bartoli (France)

Sony Ericsson Open, Miami ( U.S. )

Men’s

Winner: Novak Djokovic (Serbia )

Runner-up: Rafael Nadal (Spain )

Women’s

Winner: Victoria Azarenka (Belarus )

Runner-up: Maria Sharapova (Russia )

---

Motor-racing

Australian Grand Prix, Melbourne

Winner: Sebastian Vettel (Germany / Red Bull-Renault)

Second: Lewis Hamilton (G. Britain / McLaren-Mercedes)

Third: Vitaly Petrov (Russia / Renault)

Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang

Winner: Sebastian Vettel (Germany / Red Bull-Renault)

Second: Jenson Button (G. Britain / McLaren-Mercedes)

Third: Nick Heidfeld (Germany / Renault)

---