6 years ago: Reliving India's T20 World Cup triumph

Austalia’s Matthew Hayden leaves the ground after being clean bowled by Indian pacer Sreesanth in the second semi-final of the ICC World Twenty20 at the Kingsmead Cricket Stadium in Durban

There could not be anything better than facing Pakistan in the final. Pakistan had never beaten India in an official World Cup match till date. It was 24th September, 2007 at the Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg; the same ground where India lost the World Cup final to Australia in 2003.

India won the toss and elected to bat first. Virender Sehwag’s injury in the semi-final led to the inclusion of Yusuf Pathan, who was playing his debut. Yusuf hit a huge six in the first over bowled by Mohammad Asif but failed to put up a big score as he was dismissed for 15. It was Gautam Gambhir who stood up and decided to go after the Pakistan bowlers as he scored a helpful 75 runs off 54 balls. Other than Gambhir, Rohit Sharma added 30 runs from 16 balls. But India did not manage to set up a commanding total on a batsman-friendly pitch as they ended up scoring just 157 runs for the loss of 5 wickets.

Pakistan needed 158 runs from 120 balls to win the championship. Mohammad Hafeez and Imran Nazir were all set to start off the innings and for India as RP Singh had the new ball. On the fifth delivery, the ball took an outside edge of Hafeez’s bat and went straight into the hands of Robin Uthappa who was in the slips. Sreesanth was given the next over but he was hit for 21 runs by Imran Nazir. Pakistan were off to a good start with 25 runs on the scoreboard in 2 overs.

And then, the drama began. Kamran Akmal faced 4 deliveries and lost his off stump to RP Singh without scoring. Sreesanth came back strongly with a maiden over. Imran Nazir was on fire as he had hit 33 runs from just 14 balls before a sharp direct hit by Robin Uthappa in the sixth over removed him. Joginder Sharma was the first change bowler for India and he struck in the ninth over. Younis Khan (24) who attempted a big shot could not connect well and ended up giving a simple catch to Yusuf Pathan.

At the end of eleventh over, Pakistan had put up 76 runs and lost 4 wickets. It was still anybody’s game. But Irfan Pathan, who bowled the 12th over, turned the game in India’s favor by picking up two crucial wickets. First, he had Shoaib Malik caught at mid-wicket for just 8 and then sent the big hitter, Shahid Afridi back to the pavilion, who had faced just one ball. Misbah and Yasir Arafat tried to steady things for Pakistan but on the last ball of the 16th over, Irfan struck once again by shattering Arafat’s stumps and completing an excellent spell.

Pakistan required 54 more from just 24 balls. Harbhajan Singh was given the 17th over to get his yorkers right but couldn’t do much as Misbah went after him by hitting three huge sixes and keeping Pakistan’s hopes alive. The next over bowled by Sreesanth saw 15 runs before he bowled Sohail Tanvir (12). RP Singh had to bowl a tight 19th over and he did. He gave India one more wicket as he ended the match for Umar Gul (0). The match was down to the last over in which Pakistan had to hit 13 more runs and India needed just one wicket to win. The Indian captain, MS Dhoni had two options – either the experienced Harbhajan Singh or the new boy Joginder Sharma. And the new captain shocked everyone as he called up Joginder Sharma to bowl the final over.

Joginder ran in to deliver the first ball and bowled a wide. Misbah missed the next one and then with 12 needed from 5, Joginder bowled a full-toss to which Misbah responded in a flash and sent the ball into the stands with a huge hit. Pakistan were just one hit away and they had 4 more balls to do so. But what happened next was something which no one would have expected. Misbah tried to clear short fine-leg by shuffling across the off stump and playing a scoop shot, but all he could manage was gifting his wicket as Sreesanth took a simple catch under high pressure.

The Indian team celebrates with the trophy after the Twenty20 Championship Final match between Pakistan and India at The Wanderers Stadium on September 24, 2007

India had won the Inaugural T20 World Cup! Celebrations and fireworks started as soon as the Indian players and fans realized what had happened. This was a hard fought victory for the Indian team which was not expected to win when the tournament commenced. Irfan Pathan was awarded the Man of the Match for his match-winning spell of 4 overs in which he conceded just 16 runs and picked up 3 crucial wickets. Shahid Afridi was declared the Man of the Series. And India had successfully found a new captain in Mahendra Singh Dhoni.