After getting knocked out of the 2007 ODI World Cup in an embarassing manner, India assembled a young-looking team led by MS Dhoni for the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup in 2007. All of the senior players including the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly withdrew their names from the shortest format of the game. However, coming in as underdogs, India went on to win the first-ever edition of the T20 World Cup in 2007 after defeating arch-rivals Pakistan by five runs in the final.
India weren’t among the favorites to win the T20 World Cup in the absence of their key players. Apart from that, they were also coming after a group stage exit in the ODI World Cup earlier that year. Young wicketkeeper-batter MS Dhoni took charge as Indian skipper for the first time and led the young Indian team to a historic win in the final against Pakistan in Johannesburg on September 24, 2007.
India defeated Pakistan in a nail-biting final to win the 2007 T20 World Cup
India had performed impressively across all departments throughout the league and super eight stage before making it through to the knockouts of the 2007 T20 World Cup despite losing just one game against New Zealand. India went onto defeat Australia in the semi-final of the tournament by 15 runs, to reach the final of the T20 World Cup in the inaugural edition of the tournament.
At the Wanderers in Johannesburg, India chose to bat first after winning the toss in the final of the 2007 T20 World Cup against Pakistan, posting 157/5 on the board as the opener Gautam Gambhir top scoring with 75(54) runs, which included eight fours and two sixes, while Rohit Sharma gave finishing touches to the innings with a quick-fire 30*(16) runs.
In the run chase, Pakistan kept losing wickets at regular intervals with Misbah-ul-Haq playing a fighting knock of 43(38) runs, including four sixes. With six runs needed from the last four deliveries, Misbah played a scoop shot against Joginder Sharma before S Sreesanth took the catch at short leg to wrap up the Pakistan innings as India were crowned champions of the first-ever edition of the T20 World Cup. After 17 years, India went on to win the second edition of the T20 World Cup under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma in 2024.
