Yet another year is nearing its end and it’s time to say goodbye to 2011. The year gone by did have some moments to cherish about in Indian sports, with India winning its second Cricket World Cup early this year and the country hosting its first Formula 1 race that brought India on sporting world map. But as a whole, it was an ordinary year in terms of achievements and glories, with few brilliant performances here and there. Indian Sports News brings before you some of the highs and lows of Indian sports in the year 2011.

Highs of 2011:

• India win Cricket World Cup:

India did it in 1983 for the first time and they did it again 28 years later after Dhoni’s towering six over long on earned India their second Cricket World Cup. India joined hands to host the World Cup along with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and met Sri Lanka in the finals. They felt the initial hiccups but great knock by Gautam Gambhir and a captain’s knock by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni helped India cherish a long fulfilled dream of winning the World Cup again. The win also brought Team India in the illustrious list along with Australia and West India to have won the World Cup more than once.

• Inaugural Indian Grand Prix:

On October 30, India witnessed the first ever Formula 1 event on its soil and became one of the few countries to have ever hosted an F1 race, which is considered to be the grand daddy of all motor sporting events. Even though anything associated with India in the race did not have much luck in the race -- be it Vijay Mallya owned Force India or lone Indian driver Narain Kathikeyan -- it still made India a winner and surely has brought India on global sporting map.

• Ronjan Sodhi retains his World Cup Title:

Ace Indian shooter created history after he became the first Indian to have ever retained his World title in shooting after he defeated Chinese Binyuan Hu in the tie-breaker to win the most prestigious event of shooting for second consecutive time. The win has pinned immense hope on him and is now being considered as the breakout athlete for next year’s Olympics to be held in London.

• Virender Sehwag’s record breaking double century:

It took years for Indian fans to see the first double hundred in ODI cricket. And when it was reached, who else could it have been apart from the legend Sachin Tendulkar himself. And two years later on December 2011, Virender Sehwag, the most destructive batsmen in present day cricket, broke the record as he scored a swashbuckling 219 against the touring West Indian side in Indore. It is always been said that no one remembers who came second in the race, but this one would not be forgotten because it is a case of a disciple outshining his teacher.

• Kolkata’s date with Messi:

It was a moment to savour for the football lovers of the country, as Lionel Messi’s three-day visit with the Aregentine team created an unprecedented buzz not only in the City of Joy but the country as whole. The international star weaved his magic in front of a jam-packed stadium and September 1 was a date which all those present at the Yuva Bharati Krirangan would never forget.

• Deepika, a revelation in 2011:

Archers, led by 17-year-old Deepaki Kumari, have been a revelation of 2011. Their continuous and consistent rise in the performance has given Indians a ray of hope to finish on the podium in London Olympics. One of the biggest achievement for Indian archery came came this year when the recurve trio of Deepika Kumari, Chekrovolu Swuro and Laishram Bombayala Devi finished runners-up in the World Championships in Turin, Italy. Kumari went on to win her second individual gold in World Youth Archery. Meanwhile Deepika became the first Indian to win back-to-back world titles when she won the junior women's individual recurve, capping the year with two dozen international medals (two gold, six silver and four bronze).

• Shiva’s tryst with gold:

Shiva Keshavan did what no other Indian had done before. The only known face of India in winter sports, the 30-year-old from Manali clocked 134.3 kmph at the Japan meet to set an Asian record and get India its first gold in an international winter sports event. His gold winning performance at the Asia Cup luge event in Nagano, Japan brought some cheers on the faces of Indian fans.

Lows of 2011:

• Arrest of Suresh Kalmadi:

Suresh Kalmadi, the man behind the alleged money laundering during the Commonwealth Games, was arrested by the CBI on April 25th, 2011. Kalmadi who was the President of the organizing committee of Commonwealth Games and the president of Indian Olympics Association received more shocks as the very next day after he was arrested, he was sacked as the president of IOA.

• Champions League taken out of India:

Controversy always runs in parallel lines with hockey in India with two bodies HI and IHF fighting for supremacy. To resolve this matter, Indian Government intervened and tried to act a peacemaker. The government tried working out a solution and both the bodies thought to merge. But that did not go down well with FIH, the apex body of World Hockey and they pulled Champions League out of India, citing reasons that there can be only body governing hockey in a country and as India could come not come to a settlement, they lost the rights to the tournament.

• Team India’s disastrous summer tour in England:

After winning the 2011 Cricket World Cup, India went to tour England with lot of confidence and were a looking a strong side. But as soon as the series started, the Indian side looked like some minnows and could not stand up to the English Challenge, eventually getting whitewashed for a 4-0 Test series loss and then combined it with a 3-0 ODI series loss.

• Postponement of WSH:

As said earlier, controversy has become a synonym to Indian Hockey and with Hockey India (HI) the apex body of hockey in India and Indian Hockey Federation (IHF), the rebel body at continuous loggerheads, the situation is expected to remain the same. And this clash took to new height when World Series Hockey, a brainchild of Nimbus and IHF, which had the potential to revamp Indian hockey got postponed. WSH, which was supposed to take place in December 2011, has now been postponed to February next year. The postponement of this grand event has indeed shown that these two warring bodies have made the game a platform to destroy the career of hockey players.

• Indian athletes in doping row:

Indian sporting arena faced a global disgrace when the medals winners of the 2010 Commonwealth Games and 2011 Commonwealth Games 2011 were caught for doping. Asian Games Gold Medallist Mandeep Kaur, Ashwini Akkunji, Sini Jose were among tops players who were tested positive for doping and are now facing a ban.

• Indian Express split again:

They had reunited after nine years with an aim of fighting for glory in the London Olympics. But they united only to split up just months prior to the Olympics, giving a jolt to India’s chances at the mega event. In their bid to get an Olympic medal in the 2012 London Games, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi decided to play the season together but it all ended on a sour note as their split also led to the separation of the Indo-Pak team of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi.  Bhupathi is set to partner Bopanna in the coming season, running up to the Olympics, and it remains to be seen how they would shape up in London. 

• Saina slumps in form:

By her own standards, 2011 is the year she would like to forget soon. After performing exceptionally well in 2010, a lot was expected from the poster girl of Indian badminton, but apart from winning the Swiss Grand Prix gold and finishing as runners-up in Malaysia and Indonesia and World Superseries, there is nothing much for Saina Nehwal to revere about, as she enter yet another year which will witness the mother of all event, the Olympics.

Indian Sports News Network