‘We had the best team in the world’ – Virender Sehwag rues India’s 2007 ODI World Cup debacle

Virender Sehwag. (Photo Source: YouTube/Oaktree Sports)

The 2007 ODI World Cup is arguably the lowest point ever in Indian cricket history. The star-studded Men in Blue were knocked out from the group stage of the tournament after they faced embarrassing losses against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Reflecting on the forgettable tournament, former India cricketer Virender Sehwag has said that it was tough to see the team getting beaten like that, as it was the strongest Indian team ever on paper.

Most of the members of the 2007 team, such as Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh, finally tasted glory in the 2011 edition as India won the biggest prize in cricket on home soil. However, the debacle of 2007 still hurts Sehwag, as India could only beat Bermuda during the tournament.

“2007 World Cup was tough as the team we had in 2007 was the best team in the world. We’ve never had a stronger team on paper; we played finals in 2003 and 2011 but didn’t have those names. The thing that hurt the most was that we played three matches and won just once, that too against Bermuda, and we were knocked out,” said Sehwag on Breakfast with Champions.

Further talking about the forgettable tournament, the 2011 World Cup winner revealed that the entire team had to spend two more days in Trinidad and Tobago after they got knocked out. Sehwag further said that he watched Prison Break to get his mind off it.

“The pile on the misery, we had to wait for tickets for two days more after the end of the group stage and locked ourselves in the room. I called a friend of mine in America and asked him for ‘Prison Break’. I binge-watched Prison Break for two days and the next day travelled back home,” he added.

India posted registered highest team total and victory margin against Bermuda

During the only game that India won against Bermuda in the 2007 ODI World Cup, they posted a massive total of 413/5 batting first, which stood as the highest team total in World Cup history until surpassed by Australia in 2015.

India managed to win the game by 257 runs which was also the highest victory margin (by runs) in World Cup history till 2015. Australia broke the record by beating Afghanistan by 275 runs in the 2015 edition after scoring 417/6 in the first innings. The record-breaking win against Bermuda was the only positive for India during the tournament.