A look back at the T20 World Cup Winners: India’s journey on winning the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup 2007

The 2007 ICC T20 World Cup was the first Twenty20 International cricket worldwide competition, held from September 11 to September 24, 2007, in South Africa. The thirteen-day event featured ten Test-playing nations as well as Kenya and Scotland, the 2007 WCL Division One finalists. India won the event after defeating Pakistan in the final.

Here are how India clinched the success in ICC T20 World Cup 2007:

India was on the verge of rebuilding after a disastrous exit from the 2007 ICC World Cup in the West Indies. MS Dhoni has been tasked with leading the team in this event, which is surprising. The lineup, which included Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, and Harbhajan Singh, appeared to be well-equipped. The first game between India and Scotland was called off before a single ball was thrown.

The second and most critical match for India was against archrival Pakistan. In World Cups, India holds a perfect record against Pakistan, which they have not broken in the shortest format. India triumphed in an exciting game that went to the bowl-out stage (which has recently been changed to super-over). Prior to this, Robin Uthappa’s fifty and S. Sreesanth’s astute bowling and Yuvraj Singh’s defensive efforts kept Pakistan from chasing a modest total of 142 runs.

After defeating Pakistan in this game, India advanced to the super-eight stage. India was placed in the same category as New Zealand, South Africa, and England. Despite a strong batting performance while chasing 190 runs, India were defeated by New Zealand by 10 runs in the first super-eight stage match.

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Following that, India faced England in their next match. This was one of the most important games, since a loss would have forced The Men in Blue to withdraw from the World T20. Indian batting did not take the battle lightly however, hitting 218 runs in the allotted 20 overs. Yuvraj Singh smashed six sixes in an over against Stuart Broad of England. India defeated Pakistan by an innings and eight runs.

India’s final super-eight match was against South Africa, the hosts. The Indian batsman’s 153-run total was enough to secure a semi-final berth. The finest Indian bowler was RP Singh, who took four wickets, including Herschelle Gibbs, Graeme Smith, Shael Pollock, and Albie Morkel. The match was won by India by a score of 37 runs.

India faced ‘favourites’ Australia in the semi-finals. After winning the toss and deciding to bat first, India scored 188 runs in 20 overs. Yuvraj delivered yet another thrilling batting performance, this time scoring 70 runs in 30 balls. In response, Mathew Hayden and Andrew Symonds collaborated to put pressure on India till Sreesanth bowled Mathew Hayden first, followed by Andrew Symonds. India eventually triumphed by a score of 15 runs.

The World T20 final could not have been better for the audience. Pakistan was paired against India. MS Dhoni chose to bat first, and India scored 157 runs, including a half-century from Gautam Gambhir. Pakistan’s chase of the score ended with them at 77 for 6. Everyone anticipated India to comfortably win, but Misbah-ul-Haq had different plans. The Pakistan batsman analyzed the situation well and assisted Pakistan in winning the game in the final over, where they required 13 runs off 6 balls. Dhoni gave Harbhajan Singh one over, but he instead passed the ball to Joginder Sharma.

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To keep the asking rate as low as possible, the first ball was a wide, the second a dot delivery, and the third a six. Pakistan was currently down by 6 runs off 4 balls. However, a Misbah shot destroyed Pakistan’s chances of winning the World T20 in 2007. This delivery was smashed directly into the hands of Sreesanth, who was positioned at short fine-leg. Pakistan put all on the line for 152 points.

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