India had defeated Pakistan by 5 runs to lift the inaugural T20 World Cup.
The accomplishment was made in the absence of legendary names like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid makes it even more exceptional. No wonder, it has made a significant impact on Indian cricket. The success of Dhoni’s youth brigade also ensured the inception of IPL and thereby entirely revolutionized the global cricket as well.
Speaking to Sportskeeda, former all-rounder Yuvraj reflected on that triumphant campaign, saying: “We were a fearless bunch. We didn’t know how to plan but we just wanted to go and express ourselves. I remember we had some really outstanding talent in that tournament.”
“It was just that the natural talent had been put on to the World stage. Guys like Robin Uthappa, who would have played a bit before that. Rohit’s first tournament, he had just come in the side, hadn’t played much cricket. RP Singh, Sreesanth – these young guys bowled some really outstanding spells. A lot of young talent really expressed their talent and did well in current situations. And I think that was the reason for us to get to the finals,” he added.
Yuvraj also pointed out Rohit Sharma’s crucial knock in the summit clash against Pakistan, which barely gets a mention.
“Gautam had an outstanding final with Irfan Pathan. So I think it was a collective effort. But everyone talks about myself or Gautam but nobody remembers that Rohit scored 30* off 16 balls in the final, which actually got us to 157. That was the most important knock of the tournament. Irfan took 3 wickets and was the Man of the Match but I think Rohit’s inning was very special in the finals” he remarked.
Notably, India was under immense pressure in the final when the score was 130/5 after 18 overs. But Rohit’s 16-ball 30 laced with two fours and a six helped the team post a competitive 157/5 on the board.