On September 24, 2007, India scripted history as they defeated arch-rivals Pakistan in the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup in Johannesburg, South Africa. Team India, which had walked into the finals without much expectations due to lack of its star players, ended up walking away with the trophy. As Thursday marked the 13th anniversary of the historic moment, social media users shared their memories.
Led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Indian team went in with newcomers and did not have the services of senior players like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly or Rahul Dravid during the tournament. Instead, it was dependent on young guns, which ultimately paid off for the Dhoni-led side.
India, which had defeated Pakistan in the league stage in a bowl-out, had a slight edge over the same opponents in the finals.
The final began with India winning the toss and opting to bat first. Opening batsman Gautam Gambhir scored 75 runs and Rohit Sharma added 30 runs, taking the tally to 157 in 20 overs. The onus was on the bowlers to restrict Pakistan from reaching the target of 158.
Pakistan didn’t have the best of starts as they lost their first wicket in the opening over and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Pacer RP Singh was the wrecker-in-chief finishing with figures of 3 for 26 from his quota of four overs. With Pakistan requiring 13 off the final six deliveries, captain Dhoni made a surprising move by asking paceman Joginder Sharma to bowl the final over. The move looked like it would backfire when Misbah-ul-Haq scored seven runs off the first two deliveries. But Joginder Sharma had the last laugh as he had Misbah caught by Sreesanth after he attempted a big hit.
A team made up primarily of youngsters like Dhoni, Sreesanth, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh ended up title winners and walked away with the trophy.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday took to its official twitter handle to congratulate India on their memorable win 13 years ago. Along with a picture they wrote
“ In The Air, Sreesanth takes it!”
#OnThisDay in 2007, India clinched the inaugural ICC @T2OWorldCup after an exciting final against arch-rivals Pakistan."
"In the air, Sreesanth takes it!"#OnThisDay in 2007, India clinched the inaugural ICC @T20WorldCup after an exciting final against arch-rivals Pakistan #T20TakesOff: Watch extended highlights of the #INDvPAK clash
— ICC (@ICC) September 24, 2020
The fine line between victory and defeat! #OnThisDay
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) September 24, 2020
#OnThisDay in 2007, #TeamIndia created history as they lifted the maiden ICC World T20 trophy.
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 24, 2020
Here’s the nail-biting final over from that thrilling clash https://t.co/lKRtdua2Sc pic.twitter.com/xRUbISYJ2M
13 years ago, since we created history and became the winners of the first ever World T20. And the reception that we received in Mumbai on return, wow, that is what one plays for. pic.twitter.com/8RA9jEgFTa
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) September 24, 2020
ONTHISDAY in 2007...... #TeamIndia became first team to lift the T20 World cup and also the first and only nation to win World cups in three different formats.....
— NammaFM (@NammaFm) September 24, 2020
#MSDhoni @msdhoni #BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/0eigRvbgL4
@13 years for this moment
— @ Siva bestha (@Siva51135681) September 24, 2020
On this day s aqo Indin cricket
Team won the first t20 world cup pic.twitter.com/ZFsE5WM5em