The recollections of India winning the 2011 World Cup are still as vivid as if they had occurred just yesterday, thirteen years later. Ravi Shastri's excitement in the changing room as MS Dhoni hit the game-winning six, Sachin Tendulkar's tears welling up as he gave Virat Kohli that wonderful statement about the Master Blaster. The fact that India was the first nation to win a 50-over World Cup on its own soil established a new paradigm. The same XI that played that game for India never played another ODI together, but what they accomplished that night at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium is legendary and will always be remembered in Indian cricket history.

With 97 runs, Gautam Gambhir, who is currently the head coach of the Indian team, had the highest score, while captain Dhoni was outstanding on the night of the final with an undefeated 91. With 21 wickets, Zaheer Khan was the leading wicket-taker, and Tendulkar scored the most runs. Yuvraj Singh did, nonetheless, win the title of Player of the Tournament. With a superb all-around performance, the former Indian cricketer amassed 362 runs and 15 wickets. Yuvraj's struggle against cancer on his way to helping his nation win the World Cup made it even more memorable.

However, do you know that Yuvraj almost didn't participate in the World Cup? Indeed, former India coach Gary Kirsten made the startling revelation that Yuvraj's form leading up to the World Cup was questionable and that the BCCI selection committee, led by Kris Srikkanth, was considering leaving Yuvraj off the World Cup squad. Nonetheless, Dhoni and Kirsten relied on their gut feeling regarding Yuvraj and persuaded the selection committee.

"It was a close call, but thank goodness we chose him. The choice was not straightforward. The 15 players were sort of up for discussion amongst the selectors. Due to the expertise he brought to the group, I was as eager as Dhoni to include him in the team. And consider the World Cup he had, Kirsten told Rediff.com.

What Yuvraj Singh was like, according to Gary Kirsten

To some extent, Kisten is correct. During the year leading up to the World Cup, Yuvraj's bat wasn't producing the same results as it did in the 2007 World Cup, or even in the past. Prior to that, Yuvraj hit 120 runs in four games against New Zealand at home and 91 runs in five ODIs against South Africa in South Africa. Yuvraj scored 440 runs in 20 ODIs between January 2010 and February 19, 2011, including three half-centuries. Thankfully, the BCCI stood behind Yuvraj because saner minds triumphed. Kirsten spoke frankly about his time with Yuvraj and gave credit to Team India's then-mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton for helping to turn things around.

"I've always liked Yuvraj a lot. Our relationship was one of those fantastic ones where I adored him even though he would sometimes annoy me to no end. He was excellent. All I want is for him to keep hitting runs, since his at-bats are so thrilling to watch. However, Paddy deserved credit for the path he had to take, Kirsten continued.

In preparation for the World Cup, Paddy put in a lot of effort working with Yuvi. Yuvi was the one who made some crucial choices about how he would get ready for the World Cup.

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