OTD | 16 years since India won inaugural T20 World Cup by beating Pakistan in iconic final
On this day in 2007, India created history by becoming the first team to win the T20 World Cup. A relatively younger team was selected for the tournament, which went on to win the inaugural season of the T20 World Cup. The world was stunned by the Indian win, as India won the tournament under the leadership of MS Dhoni. A collective team effort helped India to win the tournament.
On the day of final in Johannesburg, India batted first on a relatively slower deck to bat on. Yusuf Pathan gave a brisk start to the Indian team by scoring 15 runs in 8 balls. Robin Uthappa could not do much with the bat. The responsibility fell on the shoulders of Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh to take India to a good total. Yuvraj, who had a great tournament till that point, struggled to get going.
The star batter scored 14 runs in 19 balls, which included only one boundary. It was Gambhir who shined on the big day for the Indian team. The Southpaw scored 75 runs in 54 balls, which included 8 fours and 2 sixes. MS Dhoni failed to make an impact, as he scored 6 runs in 10 balls. India found themselves at 130/5 after 18 overs. India needed an impactful knock from someone to get to a good total.
Rohit Sharma’s cameo and collective efforts of bowlers help India to win the match
Rohit Sharma did exactly that. A youngster back then, the right-handed batter scored an impressive 30*(16) which powered India to a total of 157 runs. It was a par score on that wicket. Chasing the target, Pakistan got a fantastic start. Imran Nazir scored 33 runs in just 14 balls. But Pakistan lost wickets consistently at the other end. At one point, Pakistan saw themselves at 77/6 after 11.4 overs.
Misbah-Ul-Haq waged a lone war against India. The wickets kept falling consistently at the other end. Misbah tried to hang around. The lower order batter got a bit of support from Sohail Tanvir, who played a fine cameo of 12 runs in 4 balls. But it came down to 17 runs in 7 balls. From there, Joginder Sharma held his nerves and won the match for India.
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