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India's legendary spin wizard Harbhajan Singh walked down the memory lane and remembered Men in Blue's 2007 T20 World Cup triumph on it's fifteenth anniversary on Saturday (September 24).
The members of Team India who were part of the historical event, recalled their early impressions of MS Dhoni on Star Sports show 'Class of 2007: The Reunion of '07 Champions'.
"It did not feel to us that MS Dhoni was our skipper till he lifted the trophy. It was so because everyone was contributing their suggestions as to what should be done during a certain stage in a game. He was very open to it and would let us go ahead with whatever we thought was best," said Harbhajan Singh.
The cricketer turned politician recalled the strategy during the iconic bowl-out that took place to decide the winner of the Group D clash between India and Pakistan, which ended in a tie with both teams scoring 141 runs each.
"The run-ups of players involved in bowl-out were of three to four steps. It was so because they could have lost their balance after running from a great distance," he said.
On the occasion of Team India's ICC T20 World Cup 2007 win, former Indian batter Robin Uthappa said on Saturday that he still remembers his celebration after the famous bowl-out after a thrilling tied Group D clash with arch-rivals Pakistan during the tournament. A new chapter in Indian cricket history was written when a young and relatively inexperienced Team India led by MS Dhoni won the hearts of a billion fans as they defeated Pakistan in the finals of the inaugural ICC Men's T20 World Cup, 15 years to this day.
The Men in Blue escaped the jaws of defeat in the final over of the match and won versus their arch-rivals by a margin of just five runs. The 2007 World Cup victory was India's first ever major limited-overs trophy since the heroics of the 1983 ICC Men's World Cup.
With some hard-fought victories against some of the best teams in world cricket at the time was no mean feat, as recalled by Star Sports panellist - Robin Uthappa who played a major role in India winning the 2007 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. He said, "I cannot believe that it has been 15 years since we won the T20 World Cup. For me, it feels as if it was just a few years ago. The fond memories from our first-ever T20 world cup win are still fresh in my memory. I can still remember bowling in the bowl-out and tipping my hat in celebration as we won!"
The Group D clash between India and Pakistan saw a bowl-out to decide the winner after both teams were tied at 141 runs each. Players from each side took aims at the stumps, with India winning the bowl-out 3-0.
"I would like to wish the Men in Blue all the very best as they go Down Under to try and repeat history and get us back the ICC Men's T20 World Cup with 'Mission Melbourne'. It's a special experience to win the World Cup and I wish Rohit and the boys play their hearts out to repeat the feat we achieved 15 years ago!" he added.
Even wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik recalled his first impressions of MS Dhoni.
"He was en route of becoming captain back then. He was the Vice Captain during the 2007 ODI World Cup and series against England and various other places. From day 1, he had his own ways of doing things. There was not really much difference between him as a captain and as a player," said Karthik.
In the summit clash, India elected to bat first after winning the toss. They put up 157/5 in their 20 overs. Gautam Gambhir's 75 off 54 balls and Rohit Sharma's hard-hitting cameo of 30* off 16 balls helped Men in Blue reach a solid score for an ICC final for those days. Pacer Umar Gul (3/26) did not let Team India reach a big score and took wickets at crucial phases.
Chasing 158, Pakistan lost wickets at regular intervals. RP Singh (3/26) and Irfan (3/16) kept their arch-rivals' run flow in check. Knocks from Imran Nazir (33), Younis Khan (24) were solid, but Pakistan was left struggling at 6/77. Misbah-ul-Haq (43) then tried to win it for Pakistan, but fell short by five runs after a scoop attempt on delivery by Joginder Sharma (2/20) was caught by S Sreesanth, sending millions into ecstasy. Pakistan were restricted to 152 runs handing India the glory to remember in the inaugural season of the T20 World Cup.
