Picture Credit: X
The 2024 edition of the T20 World Cup is just around the corner, and 20 nations are set to clash against each other in some fiery battles. The tournament will kick off on June 1 with co-hosts USA clashing against Canada. The Indian team, led by Rohit Sharma, will begin their campaign against Ireland. The tournament began in 2007, and the first edition of the competition was contested in South Africa from September 11 to 24, 2007.
India, led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, scripted history, as they became the first team to register victory. Needless to say, the season marked India’s best campaign at the T20 championship. In this article, we will go through India’s performance in the first edition of the T20 World Cup.
India’s Squad for T20 World Cup 2007
The young team was led by MS Dhoni, who was captaining the team for the first time in any format. The men who were behind India’s win at the T20 World Cup 2007 are:
MS Dhoni (captain and wicketkeeper), Yuvraj Singh (vice-captain), Ajit Agarkar, Piyush Chawla, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Joginder Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, RP Singh, S. Sreesanth, Robin Uthappa
India’s placement and performance
The Men in Blue were placed in Group D alongside Pakistan and Scotland.
Group Stage
India played their first group-stage game against Scotland, but the game got abandoned due to rain. Later, on September 14, India were up against arch-rivals and neighbours Pakistan. The game got tied and India won bowl-out 3-0. By this time, Pakistan had already made it to the Super 8s.
Super8s
MS Dhoni and Co. made it to the Super 8s alongside Australia, Bangladesh, England, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka. These eight teams were divided into two groups, four teams in each group.
- India played against New Zealand on September 16, where the Kiwis registered a 10-run victory over the eventual winners.
- Later, on September 19, India were up against England, a historic game that saw current Indian skipper Rohit Sharma and Joginder Sharma making their T20I debuts. The game also saw Yuvraj Singh scoring the fastest fifty in a Twenty20 International from just 12 deliveries. Not only this, but a young Singh also became the first in T20 to hit 6 sixes in an over.
As a result of the brilliant gameplay, the Indians clinched the victory by 18 runs.
- On September 20, the Men in Blue rubbed shoulders with South Africa, where they emerged victorious by a margin of 37 runs. With the win, New Zealand and India advanced to the semifinals by having higher net run rates. On the other hand, South Africa, despite having the same points, was eliminated.
Knockouts
India played against Australia in one of the semifinals of the tournament and with a win by 15 runs, they moved to the finale. Joining them were arch-rivals and neighbours Pakistan. The teams were set to meet on September 24 for the one final battle.
Final
In the finale of the tournament, India defeated Pakistan by five runs and became the first-ever winner of the T20 World Cup. The game also saw Yusuf Pathan making his T20I debut. Former opener Gautam Gambhir finished as the second-highest run-scorer, behind Matthew Hayden. Gambhir scored 227 runs in six innings.
On the other hand, former India star RP Singh was the third-highest wicket-taker during the tournament. He scalped a total of 12 dismissals in the tournament.
