The World Cup 2011 quarter-finals took place between India and Australia at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium. In that match, India defeated Australia by 5 wickets with the help of Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj’s half-century and Suresh Raina. Australia were left out of the World Cup following the defeat. This is the first time Australia have knocked out a 50-over World Cup since the 1999 World Cup. Australia became world champions in 1999, 2003 and 2007, but the Indian team led by Dhoni at the 2011 World Cup stopped the chariot of the kangaroos.
In a podcast of Gaurav Kapoor’s 22 Yarns show, Raina recalled that victory: “I was sitting next to Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag was sitting next to us. I was wearing my pads. Then Sachin Pazi laid his hand on me, with Sai Baba Ji’s kada in his hand. He said, Today is your day, go and win the game for us. Suresh, I think today is your day. ‘When this happened I felt a miracle. When I went to bat, UV Pazi said, ‘Don’t leave’, and I said, ‘OK Paji, we’ll try our best.
He said, ‘When we started batting, we were hitting doubles and boundaries, we thought the crowd was supporting us too. The audience began to cheer us on as the partnership increased. When we finished the match I thought it was a blessing from God. We all wanted Sachin Pazi to win the World Cup. Suresh Raina played a key innings of 34 off 28 balls and shared a 74-run partnership with Yuvraj. India won the World Cup 28 years later by beating Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the final.