The ICC World T20 2007 triumph will always remain special for the Indian cricket fans because of numerous great moments – from MS Dhoni’s maiden tournament as a captain to Yuvraj Singh’s iconic 6 sixes in an over against English paceman Stuart Broad. However, none was bigger than Joginder Sharma’s last over to Pakistan batsman Misbah-ul-Haq which sealed the deal for India.
With 12 needing from the last over, Misbah smashed Joginder straight down the ground for a gigantic six. Pakistan were on course for a historic win but the match had a final twist in the tale.
Joginder bowled a full delivery as Misbah bent down to scoop it behind the wicket over short fine-leg but couldn't get the desired connection. Sreesanth, who was placed at fine leg, took the catch to secure the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 for India by five runs.
In a conversation with former Pakistan teammates Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah recalled that epic match and admitted that he might have been “overconfident” in attempting the scoop shot.
“In 2007, I always say that throughout every game, I scored so many fours playing that shot. Even with the fine leg in place, I was taking singles while playing that shot against Australia. Against spinners, I used to beat fine leg with that shot,” Misbah said.
“So, you can say I got overconfident. I mistimed the shot on which I had the most confidence.”
Misbah also spoke in detail about Pakistan’s loss to India in the 2011 ODI World Cup semi-final in Mohali.
“In 2011, on that Mohali pitch, India had scored 44 (39/0) in 4 overs. When the ball got older, it started to reverse, it started gripping and runs were harder to get. Sachin scored 80-something (85) and he was man of the match. India were struggling after that start,” Misbah said.
"Even we had put around 80 runs in the first 15 overs, losing only one wicket. In the next few overs, we hardly scored runs and lost three wickets. There was Yuvraj at one end, Harbhajan at the other, and then fast bowlers also came in. Singles were the most difficult. Either you hit it out or try and grind in.
While Misbah still faces criticism for his strike rate in that semi-final match, he believes the main reason behind their defeat was him not getting enough strike to make a difference.
“Throughout the World Cup, we were scoring heavily in the batting powerplay towards the end. The thought was that even if we needed 100 runs in the final 10 overs, we had a batting powerplay of five overs. If we had wickets in hand, we could've easily chased it down. I was standing alone in the final five overs of powerplay and I got to play only 2 overs. We lost the game by 20-22 runs and I didn't play three overs of powerplay at all. There was no batsman at the other end.”
(Inputs from Hindustan Times)
