5 reasons behind Team India's victory over Pakistan in the ICC World T20 2007 final

Today marks the 12th anniversary of India's World T20 2007 victory over Pakistan.

September 24, 2019, marks the 12^th anniversary of Team India’s World T20 win in 2007 in South Africa. The then young-looking and less experienced team of excited Indian cricketers were all given a license to go and express themselves at the world stage in a new format that was alien to most of them.

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MS Dhoni was chosen to lead those youngsters and they not only enjoyed themselves but made the most of the opportunity that was presented to them. The Indian team had come into the ICC World T20 2007 having played just one T20I before and with seniors like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble opting out of the new format, there were not many expectations from Dhoni’s army.

However, the team did wonderfully well and met arch-rivals Pakistan in the finals, having beaten them in the league phase via a bowl out. The match was played at The Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg and proved to be an all-time great T20 match. Team COC takes a look at the five reasons why India managed to win their maiden World T20 trophy.

Here are the 5 reasons behind India’s World T20 2007 finals' win

Gautam Gambhir invaluable innings of 75

Gautam Gambhir was the reason why India managed to put on 157/5 batting first in the final. Virender Sehwag missed the final due to hamstring injury and Yusuf Pathan opened the innings and made a name for himself by hitting Mohammad Asif for a huge six. But India kept losing wickets at regular intervals with Umar Gul doing the most damage.

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But Gambhir stayed put at the other end and continued doing good work. He made a match-winning 75 off 54 balls with 2 sixes and 8 fours. And his innings was instrumental in the final outcome of the match.  

Rohit’s cameo of 30 in 16 balls

While Gautam Gambhir managed to stick at one end and make 75 runs to help India get to a solid total; it was Rohit Sharma, who led the team to over 150 runs in the final score. Rohit had established himself as a good finisher as he had scored a brilliant fifty in the must-win match against South Africa earlier.

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He did nicely against the likes of Sohail Tanvir and Mohammad Asif in the death overs, scoring 30* runs in 16 balls with 2 fours and 1 six. His amazing cameo helped India to 157 runs in the 20 overs.

Imran Nazir's run out

Imran Nazir had been a revelation in the year 2007, where he had scored a scintillating century in the ICC World Cup 2007 that season against Zimbabwe. He had also made good scores in the World T20, including a nice fifty against South Africa.

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He looked in ominous touch against India in the final itself and negated the fact that India had taken early wickets of Mohammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal. Nazir went on his merry ways hitting 33 in 14 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes. However, he had come into the game with a hamstring injury which hampered his running and that resulted in him losing his wicket. He was run out by a direct hit by Robin Uthappa and his dismissal proved to be a turning point for India in the match.

Irfan gets rid of dangerous Afridi for a duck

After Nazir’s wicket, Younis Khan (24) and Misbah-Ul-Haq tried to get Pakistan back in the match. But then Joginder Sharma got Younis’ wicket and Irfan removed captain Shoaib Malik as well. All eyes were set on Shahid Afridi, who was expected to make the chase easy for the Men in Green.

But Irfan Pathan had other ideas and bowled a quick short one to Afridi, who was caught by Sreesanth at mid-on for a first-ball duck and it severely dented the chase, while Irfan Pathan managed to pick 3/16 in 4 overs and won the Player of the Finals.

Dhoni’s masterstroke of using Joginder against a rampaging Misbah

When everything seemed lost for the Pakistani team, Misbah-Ul-Haq stepped up to take the attack to the Indian bowlers. In the 17^th over, Misbah took Harbhajan Singh to the cleaners by hitting three sixes and Pakistan were in the match again.

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13 runs in 6 balls were required by the time the last over rolled in with the Green Army having just one wicket in hand. MS Dhoni, the young captain took a big risk by giving the ball to Joginder Sharma over the experienced Harbhajan Singh. Nervous Joginder started with a big wide on the off-side and Dhoni had to reassure the youngster with some calming words. The second legitimate ball of the over went for a huge six, which was hit off a juicy full-toss and tensions reached their peak.

Then came a brain-fade moment from Misbah, who tried to scoop a slower short ball over the fine-leg fielder, but managed to lob it into the hands of S Sreesanth who gleefully accepted the catch and India became the first team to lift the World T20 and also became the first country to win both ODI and T20I World Cups, all thanks to a young MS Dhoni showing faith in his inexperienced bowler, who did exactly as told and won the final for the Men in Blue.