Watch: Seven years later, a recap of the greatest night in Indian cricket history

April 2 is a date that will be etched in the hearts of Indian cricket fans forever. It was on this date, seven years ago, that India lifted the ICC World Cup after 28 years.

While the nation had truly gone bonkers in celebration that night, Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men even prompted the great Sunil Gavaskar to say this: ""When I die, the last thing I want to see is the six hat Dhoni hit in the 2011 World Cup Final."

Sunny's words will hold true for many Indians. For a captain to seal a World Cup triumph with a six, that too in front of a packed home stadium, is the stuff dreams are made of.

 

Playing Sri Lanka in the final at the Wankhede Stadium, the hosts stole victory from the jaws of defeat. Set a difficult chase of 275, after a masterful hundred from the genius Mahela Jayawardene, India found themselves in a serious spot of bother.

With Virender Sehwag falling on the second ball of the innings to Lasith Malinga, the Men In Blue also lost Sachin Tendulkar a few overs later. That, however, was going to be the high-point for the Lankans that night.

Gautam Gambhir first got together with Virat Kohli to add 83 runs for the third wicket, and then stitched arguably the greatest ever partnership for India with Dhoni.

 

The duo put on an exhibition of counter-attacking cricket, milking the likes of Malinga and Muttiah Muralitharan for boundaries at will. While Gambhir perished for 97 and missed out a well-deserved hundred, MSD took his team through with an unbeaten knock of 91. India eventually won by six wickets and 10 balls to spare.

The winning hit was made sweeter by the presence of Yuvraj Singh at the other end. Yuvi was declared the Man of the Tournament for his phenomenal all-round performances, and had also been diagnosed with Cancer a few weeks earlier.

Here are highlights of the match

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Here are some tweets marking the special day

"Dhoni finishes it off in style. A magnificent strike into the crowd. India lift the World Cup after 28 years. The party has started in the dressing room. And it's an Indian captain who's been magnificent in the night of the final."

It's safe to say that the sight of Dhoni launching Nuwan Kulasekara into the Wankhede stands, with Ravi Shastri saying the aforementioned words, is a memory that'll stay with Indian cricket fans forever.