ICC World T20 2007 – South Africa
The International Cricket Council (ICC) decided to cash in on the rising popularity of the T20 format. They also had to make up for the losses that happened due to an ill-fated World Cup in West Indies, which was marred by two big teams India and Pakistan being knocked out in league stages and was slammed for the tournament being too long.
Australia, New Zealand, West Indies, Pakistan, and England were seen as the favorites to win, given that they adopted the format earlier than other teams, while India came into this tournament, hosted by South Africa, having played just one match before it.
When the BCCI selectors sat down to pick the team, the senior players Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Sourav Ganguly, and Rahul Dravid chose to sit out of the young men’s format and despite the presence of Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh, selectors picked MS Dhoni as the captain.
The side featured a host of youngsters like Robin Uthappa, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Sreesanth, RP Singh, and many more. India was pitted in Group D with Pakistan and Scotland and after their match with Scotland was washed out, they met Pakistan in Durban.
The match ended up in an exciting tie with Uthappa and Misbah making half-centuries. This resulted in the first-ever bowl out of the T20 World Cup, which was won by India as Uthappa, Harbhajan and Sehwag hit the stumps, while none of the Pakistani bowlers managed to do so.
In the Super 8s stage, India lost to New Zealand but managed to beat England in a high-scoring thriller in which Yuvraj Singh hit 6 sixes in an over from Stuart Broad and made a 12-ball fifty. They then defeated hosts South Africa in a must-win match and knocked them out of the competition.
When MS Dhoni's words "fired up" Sreesanth against Australia in 2007 T20 World Cup
India then bettered a rampaging Australian team with Yuvraj Singh making 70 in 30 balls and booked a place in the finals against rivals Pakistan.
In what can only be called an all-time great match, India beat Pakistan by 5 runs in the final with Gambhir making 75 and Irfan Pathan taking 3/16 and MS Dhoni became the first Indian captain to win the World T20 trophy and a revolution in Indian cricket gave birth to the Indian Premier League, the next year.
