Picture Credit: Twitter
Team India, under the then newly appointed captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni scripted history, 15-years ago on this day, when the Men in Blue lifted the T20 World Cup in the tournament's inaugural edition at Johannesburg’s New Wanderers Stadium in South Africa.
While the achievement was a milestone in itself, defeating arch-rivals Pakistan in a nail-biting summit clash made it more special for all Indian cricket fans.
India participated in the ICC tournament after only playing a solitary T20I and the absence of senior players like master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid made the road to the title even tougher. But long and coloured-haired MS Dhoni rejuvenated the young troop featuring the likes of Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan and Gautam Gambhir when no one considered them favorites to lift the title.
Speaking of the summit clash, Gautam Gambhir's brilliant 75 off 54 deliveries propelled Team India to 157 in 20 overs. A young prodigy then Rohit Sharma too scored crucial 30 runs in the game. Pakistan's Umar Gul scaled three wickets under his belt.
In the run chase, Pakistan had a horrific start as their opener Mohammad Hafeez got dismissed in the very first. The collective efforts of Imran Nazir, Younis Khan, and Misbah-ul-Haq brought Pakistan back in the game.
While the other batters failed to spend time on the crease, Misbah stuck to the crease till the end and almost took Pakistan to the victory line. Pakistan required 13-runs in the final over and MS Dhoni trusted rookie Joginder Sharma to defend the total. Under immense pressure, Sharma started with a wide followed by a six at long-on.
While the Pakistan cricketers were ready to celebrate the win, Joginder stunned the cricket world as he bowled a full delivery and Misbah decided to go for a scoop that directly went into the hands of S Sreesanth.
“In the air, Sreesanth, takes it. India win. Unbelievable scenes here at the Bull ring,” Ravi Shastri’s words made it more memorable.
As India celebrates the anniversary of that historic victory, Indian cricket fans expressed their emotion about the victory on social media. In this article, SportsTiger list out some interesting Twitter post celebrating India's incredible victory in the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup.
