India had defeated Pakistan by 5 runs in Johannesburg to lift the T20 World Cup 2007 title.
On this day back in 2007, India lifted its only T20 World Cup title by thrashing Pakistan in a thrilling final by 5 runs under the charismatic captaincy of MS Dhoni. It was the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup, and Dhoni-led Team India made sure to bring the cup to the country.
As India celebrated the 15th anniversary of India’s 2007 T20 World Cup title win on Saturday (September 24), former Indian pacer Sreesanth, who was also part of the title-winning squad, opened up about Dhoni’s surprising decision to hand the ball to Joginder Sharma to defend the 13 runs off the final over against Pakistan.
Notably, Dhoni chose to give the ball to Joginder over the experienced spinner Harbhajan Singh, and the bowler held his nerve to guide India to a historic triumph, as he dismissed Misbah-ul-Haq on the third ball of the over after conceding only 7 runs while defending 13 runs in the final against Pakistan.
Sreesanth told Star Sports: “Dhoni bhai takes decisions like that and Dhoni bhai knows Jogi bhai very well. Lot of people don't know that we used to play for Indian Airlines. Dhoni bhai, me, Yuvi paa, Bhajju paa, we all used to play for Indian Airlines. Joginder Sharma used to play for ONGC.”
He continued, “So, there were a lot of matches when we played for these companies, in Delhi or elsewhere. So Dhoni bhai knows Jogi bhai's winning attitude. And he knows Jogi bhai has done it not just once and twice, he has done it many times. He had a lot of faith in him.”
Hailing Dhoni's captaincy, Sreesanth said: “And that's what I said earlier. Who's the best captain? Those who work with individuals and believe in the players. And even when the players don't believe in themselves, the great captains will come up to you and make you believe in your belief system.”
He signed off by saying, “So I think I was not surprised. I was very confident that whatever decision Dhoni bhai has been taking till then were successful so I was just praying that it works out.”