Former Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik has made a shocking claim about the inaugural T20 World Cup 2007 final played between India and Pakistan. Malik claimed that India's main bowlers were afraid to bowl to Misbah-ul-Haq and refused to bowl the final over of the match which was eventually bowled by Joginder Sharma.
“I will not take names. Each of India’s main bowlers had one over left. Dhoni asked everyone, but they refused to bowl the last over. They were afraid to bowl to Misbah. He was hitting all over the ground,” Malik told A Sports.
“People always talk about that scoop shot by Misbah. I am telling you, If it was not the last wicket, he must have hit him down the ground. He had already hit Joginder for a big six in that over,” he added.
Contrary to what Malik said, three of India's strike bowlers – RP Singh, Sreesanth and Irfan Pathan – had bowled their quota of four overs. Only Harbhajan Singh had an over left and he had been hit for three sixes by Misbah in the 17th over. Obviously, it did not make sense to introduce Harbhajan in the final over with Misbah going all bus blazing. Also, Joginder had been economical in the first three overs as well.
In the same show, Misbah explained why he opted for the infamous scoop shot against Joginder – who did not have enough pace – instead of hitting it over long on, long off or deep mid wicket.
“That was the shot I was playing throughout the tournament. The plan was to get a boundary and then we will need one run to level the score; they will bring the field up and then I will finish the match,” Misbah recalled.
Malik got emotional remembering the heartbreaking five-run loss suffered by Pakistan at Johannesburg.
“I am not an emotional guy, but the final loss got the better of me. We were a step ahead from the rest of the teams. We dominated the 2007 World Cup team. Unfortunately, we couldn’t win the final,” the veteran batting all-rounder said.
