New Delhi: Team India had a bad time in the 2007 ODI World Cup. The Indian team adorned with experienced players got eliminated from the tournament in the group stage itself. There was anger among the fans about the defeat and effigies of the players were being burnt at various places. At that time, T20 cricket was just born in international cricket and the ICC announced to org.ze the World Cup in this format, which was handed over to South Africa.
This was a golden opportunity to wash the stain of the shameful performance of ODI World Cup in T20. Senior players quickly pulled out of cricket’s first World Cup, so the selectors fielded a young team led by MS Dhoni. Despite having Yuvraj, Harbhajan and Sehwag in the team, questions were also raised on the decision to hand over the captaincy to Mahi. However, Dhoni’s stupendous exploits with the young brigade on South African soil have been written in golden letters in the pages of history.
Pakistan won the ballout
In the second match of the T20 World Cup, India faced Pakistan. The Indian team scored 141 runs losing 9 wickets on the scoreboard. However, in response to this, Pakistan could only score 141 runs after losing 7 wickets. That means the match got tied. In those days the rule of super over did not apply. In such a situation, the result of the match was to be decided through ballout.
The ballout showed the shrewdness of MS Dhoni, who was captaining Team India for the first time, and used part-time bowlers instead of bowlers who could easily hit the stumps. Mahi himself sat down on his knees behind the wicket, so that the bowler could get an idea of the height of the wicket. Mahi’s bet fit perfectly and Team India was successful in winning.
England beat South Africa
After losing to New Zealand, the Indian team needed to win both the remaining matches to reach the semi-finals. Yuvraj Singh’s bat caught fire against England and Yuvi hit 6 sixes in Stuart Broad’s over and scored a half-century in just 12 balls. India was successful in defeating the English team by 18 runs. Along with this, South African captain Dhoni became the messiah for the team in difficult circumstances and he played an excellent inning of 45 runs. In this match, not only batting, but Mahi’s fielding setting and the best use of bowlers were also praised. The victory came in India’s lap, the team got the semi-final ticket under the captaincy of Dhoni.
Australia’s crushing defeat in the semi-finals
The semi-final was against Australia, which was the talk of the town at that time in world cricket. To defeat the Kangaroo team, a charismatic performance was needed, which came out of the bat of Yuvraj and Dhoni. While Yuvi scored 70 runs in 30 balls, Mahi scored 36 runs in 18 balls while playing at a strike rate of 200. Team India scored 188 runs on the scoreboard. The bowlers did the right thing and India was successful in breaking Australia’s dream.
Pakistan in the final
Team India got the final ticket, but Pakistan became an obstacle in the way of World Cup trophy and Mahi’s youth brigade. The same Pakistan against whom the team had to struggle a lot to win the group stage. In the final, the Indian team scored 157 runs on the scoreboard losing 5 wickets in 20 overs on the basis of Gautam Gambhir’s innings of 75 runs.
Chasing the target, Pakistan’s innings faltered badly and the neighboring country lost 7 wickets for just 104 runs. The Indian team was starting to smell the victory. Irfan Pathan and RP Singh were wreaking havoc together. However, there was one more twist left in the story, which Misbah-ul-Haq brought. Misbah stood like a rock in front of the Indian team and rained fours and sixes. The match had reached the last over and the excitement was at its peak.
Mahi’s master stroke
Pakistan needed 13 runs to win in the last over and had one wicket left. The matter of concern was that Misbah-ul-Haq was set at the crease and the strike was with him. Everyone including captain Dhoni was watching in whose hand he would hand over the ball for the last over. Harbhajan had one over left and he also had experience. However, to everyone’s surprise, Mahi handed the ball to Joginder Sharma for the last over.
thrill of the last over
The first ball of the over went wide from Joginder’s hand and on the second ball, Misbah hit a six from the front. All the Indian fans heaved a sigh of relief. Joginder was feeling the pressure of the last over of the final match. Dhoni came running from behind the wicket and talked to Joginder for a long time. Misbah tried to scoop the next ball from Joginder and the ball stopped in the air. Along with the catch, S Sreesanth was also successful in catching the catch in the T20 World Cup. Under the captaincy of Dhoni, the Indian team became the champion of the first edition of the T20 World Cup. Bharti was immersed in celebration in the dressing room on the field. Mahi created history with the youth team on South African soil.
