2011 will always hold a special place in Paltan’s hearts for various reasons!

Just six months following the Indian cricket team’s first ODI World Cup triumph in 28 years, the Mumbai Indians claimed their first-ever Champions League Twenty20 title to etch their name in the history books.

Harbhajan Singh was captain, some big names in our squad were missing out due to injury, but this is where the MI Spirit was born. This is where the championship winning spree started.

A young side scripted history, on this very day, 13 years ago. It’s time to relive our championship-winning campaign in 3… 2… 1…

Match 1 | MIvCSK: An El Clasico thriller to start our quest for silverware

Up against our IPL counterparts Chennai Super Kings, the Harbhajan Singh-led side was made to work hard for a three-wicket win, with just one ball to spare. Asked to field first, our bowlers did pretty well to restrict them to 158/4 as pacer Abu Nechim accounted for two wickets.

In response, a collective batting performance, finished off by our Harbhajan Singh (19* off 20) and a Lasith Malinga cameo (37* off 18) ensured full points for the Boys in Blue and Gold.

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Match 2 | MIvTT: Another game, another nail-biter with a Yuzi cameo

Our second game of the competition proved to be a last-ball thriller where we ended up on the right side of the scorecard with just one wicket in hand. Harbhajan and Malinga spearheaded the bowling attack to bowl Trinidad and Tobago out for just 98 on the board.

In what should have been an easy chase on most days, we were made to dig deep in our pursuit of a second win on the trot.

With 11 runs required off the final over… A Lasith Maximum, two wickets, and a Yuzvendra Chahal double off the last ball took us home, much to the relief of the Paltan, whose heart was racing like an F1 car!

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Match 3 | MIvCC: Rain spoils a runfest

Relentless rain is enjoyed best with chai and bhajias, when the Paltan is at home, safe and sound! But definitely not at the expense of some cricketing action especially with our team’s batters in full throttle.

An opening onslaught by Sarul Kanwar (45 off 21 balls) and a Kieron Pollard carnage (58 off 37) towards the end of the innings powered us to 176/5 against the Cape Cobras. Alas, rain washed out the entire second innings, leaving the fans disappointed with no further cricket-ainment.

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Match 4 | MIvNSW: A wake up call, and some much-needed luck!

Knowing a victory would confirm a berth in the semis, a roadblock in the form of a defeat against the Australian outfit, New South Wales, despite James Franklin (42* off 51) and Abu Nechim’s (3/23) valiant effort. It left us needing other results from the remaining group stage matches to go in our favour and guess what, THEY DID!

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Semi-final | MIvSOM: A dhamakedaar finish, ft. Slingaaa

Opting to bat first, Aiden’s Blizzard innings of 39-ball 54 set the tone for the rest of the batters to chip in with handy contributions to put up 160/5 at the end of 20 overs.

In defence, our Slinga Malinga’s incredible 4/20 left the opposition absolutely clueless. With 15 runs required off the last over, it was Malinga’s fort that needed to be breached!

And what followed? Four runs. Two wickets. One Slinga.

A typical final over cinema, sending down variation after variation with pinpoint accuracy, to storm into the Final.

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FINAL | MIvRCB: D-day bole toh trophy, #AalaRe!

All in readiness for an enthralling contest, it was Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore for the clash of bragging rights.

James Franklin’s 29-ball 41 and SKY’s 17-ball 24 helped set a target of 140 for the opponents. In all fairness, it wasn’t a safe total by any means, but we were never ones to give up!

A Player-of-the-Match performance by Bhajji (3/20) alongside Mali, Abu Nechim and Chahal bagging two wickets each bundled RCB out for 108.

A fairytale journey concluded with us scripting history and taking home the team’s first major of silverware! With five IPL titles and another CLT20 pocketed over the next ten years, this was just the kickstart we needed.

Paltan, what are your memories from 2011?