This Day That Year: India became World Champions

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Under the young captaincy of MS Dhoni, history was created as India defeated arch-rivals Pakistan to become inaugural World T20 winners played at Wanders, Johannesburg on 24th September 2007.

India captain MS Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat first. Yusuf Pathan replacing Virender Sehwag came to open the innings along with Gambhir. It was a flying start by Pathan who scored a quickfire 15 off 8 balls. He was dismissed by Mohammad Asif trying to clear and caught by Shoaib Malik. Robin Uthappa fell cheaply for just 8 runs facing 11 deliveries.

Gambhir looked in great touch putting the pressure on the Pakistani bowlers and reached his fifty off just 38 balls. On the other hand, Yuvraj Singh struggled to time the ball. Umar Gul struck as Pakistan dismissed Yuvraj with a simple return catch to the bowler. Yuvraj and Gambhir added 63 runs for the 3rd wicket.

The Indian captain MS Dhoni was dismissed cheaply for 6 by MS Dhoni. Rohit Sharma came to the crease and played some lovely shots. Gambhir’s brilliant innings came to an end for a superb 75. Rohit hit some lusty blows at the end to remain not out on 30 off 16 balls helping Team India post 157 for 5 in 20 overs.

It was an ideal start for the Indian team as RP Singh got the early breakthrough dismissing Mohammad Hafeez with a good catch by Robin Uthappa. Imran Nazir took the attack to the Indian bowlers and kept on putting pressure with positive strokes. RP Singh struck again by getting rid of Kamran Akmal with a beauty.

Robin Uthappa produced a brilliant throw to run-out dangerous Imran Nazir to leave Pakistan under pressure. Irfan Pathan created a major impact as he dismissed Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, and Yasir Arafat to leave Pakistan in trouble at 104 for 7.

With 35 runs required off 18 balls, Misbah UL Haq hit 3 sixes off Harbhajan Singh in 17th over. Sreesanth was smacked for a six by Sohail Tanvir in the next over and then made a comeback to dismiss Tanvir. Tanvir and Misbah added 34 runs for the 8th wicket.

The match went right down the wire as MS Dhoni decided to give Joginder Sharma the final over. With 12 runs needed off the final over, Indian fans went silenced as Misbah hit a six to make the equation 6 off 4 balls. Misbah tried to scoop over fine leg but Sreesanth grabbed a catch as India won the match by just 5 runs.

The young Indian side without their top players including Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid played fearless cricket. In this tournament, they defeated strong teams like England, South Africa in the Super 8 Stage.

In the semi-finals, they defeated a strong Australian team and made it into the finals. This memory will be remembered by every Indian fan as it has changed Indian cricket for good.

For his magical spell of 3 for 16 in 4 overs, Irfan Pathan was named the man of the match award. Shahid Afridi was named as the man of the series.

India 157 for 5 in 20 overs (Gambhir 75, Rohit Sharma 30*, Umar Gul 3/28) beat Pakistan 152 in 19.3 overs (Misbah UL Haq 43, Imran Nazir 33, Irfan Pathan 3/16, RP Singh 3/26) by 5 runs.









This Day That Year: India defeat Pakistan to win the first-ever World T20 in South Africa  

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