ICC World Twenty20 (T20) 2007
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
2007
CHAMPIONS COME HOME
When Dhoni’s boys won the T20 World Championship in September 2007, their homecoming literally brought Mumbai to a standstill. Times of India’s Mumbai edition devoted as many as six pages to photos and reports of the massive homecoming ‘party’. This is what the caption of the above full page reads: “Through Monday morning and afternoon, the 30-km stretch from the airport to Marine Drive’s Wankhede Stadium was bursting at the seams with Mumbaikars. Housewives, students, office-goers and cameramen jostled to get the best view of Dhoni and his destroyers. Bikers waved the tricolour, young moms hoisted their kids onto the bonnet for a better view and thousands of cellphones went up to click grainy but unforgettable memories of cricket hysteria.” The T20 World Champions had come home, and the entire country was in on the big celebration.
Inaugural World T20: India vs. Pakistan
- India's win in the 2007 T20 World Cup paved the way for the rise of T20 cricket in the country
- After a dramatic bowl-out in the league stage, India beat Pakistan again in the final to lift the championship
NEW DELHI: The inaugural World T20 changed the landscape of Twenty20 cricket with India going from outsiders - they barely had a domestic T20 setup owing to the BCCI's apathy towards the format - to lifting the title at a packed The Wanderers after beating arch-rivals Pakistan in an epic final.
On September 24, 2007 in Johannesburg, India beat Pakistan by five runs to win the World Twenty20. Gautam Gambhir was the star with the bat for India, hitting 75 off 54 balls to get the total to 157 for 5 against a spirited Pakistan performance in the field, but Rohit Sharma's unbeaten 16-ball 30 proved a crucial cameo.
RP Singh struck early with the wickets of Mohammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal, and Irfan was excellent with figures of 3/16 in his quota as India applied the squeeze. Once again it was Misbah ul Haq left with the task of taking Pakistan to an improbable win, and with 54 needed from 24 balls with three wickets in hand he almost did. Almost. After hitting Harbhajan Singh for three sixes in the 17th over, Misbah appeared at his unflappable best until the final over.
That winning moment, Joginder Sharma to Misbah ul Haq. Photo Credit: Getty Images
After much thinking MS Dhoni put faith in Joginder Sharma for the last six balls, from which Pakistan required 13.
The first ball was a wide; the second a full toss which Misbah put away for six. The Pakistan fans at the ground were jubilant, the Indian supporters crestfallen. That's when Misbah walked across his stumps to paddle Joginder to fine leg, only to miscue the shot and find Sreesanth lurking at short fine leg. The second Sreesanth took the catch, The Wanderers exploded.
