History was created on September 24, 2007 when India defeated Pakistan in the summit clash of the first-ever T20 World Cup to become the first nation to lift aloft the World title. With one wicket in hand, the Pakistanis needed just six runs to win off four balls, when Joginder Sharma, under pressure after he had given a wide and a six of the first two balls of the last over, forced Misbah-ul-Haq to go for a scoop over short fine-leg.
As the ball went straight up in the air, a billion heartbeats across the two nations stopped in unison, waiting for bated breath. The shot lacked the power to go all the way, and eventually settled in the outstretched hands of Sreesanth, as the Indians erupted in joy. India won their maiden T20 title by 5 runs at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, in one of the most fiercely contested finals in the event.
Commemorating twelve years of the win, the BCCI shared a short clip on Twitter where the final moments of the game are shown, with the caption, “”This day in 2007, Team India were crowned World T20 Champions.
This day, in 2⃣0⃣0⃣7⃣#TeamIndia were crowned World T20 Champions 😎🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/o7gUrTF8XN
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 24, 2019
India’s journey to the final
After the senior pros Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly stepped away from playing in the event, instead wanting fresher legs to take the field, the onus of captaincy fell on the shoulders of young MS Dhoni. Not even termed as a contender for the semis, the Men in Blue, fresh off their 2007 50-over World Cup debacle where they had been out in the first stage, qualified for the next round after famously winning a league game against Pakistan via a bowl-out.
After getting the better of England and South Africa, the side qualified for the semis where they took on mighty Australia. However, the Men in Blue had form on their side, and a confident-looking Yuvraj Singh, who had hit six sixes against England, once again starred as he helped India over the line into the finals where they would meet Pakistan.
In the summit clash, Dhoni won the toss and chose to bat first, with Yusuf Pathan making his debut for the side. However, he could not fire, and it was left to Gautam Gambhir to take over the responsibility and take India to a respectable total. Making 75 runs, he held one end up as the team finished with 157 on the board.
In reply, the Pakistanis got off to the worst possible start, losing Mohammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal in quick succession. Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi too followed suit, however, Misbah played a blinder and helped his team get near. A rash shot in the dying stages of the game, though, meant it was curtains, as India won the match by five runs.
Team India have not been able to win a World T20 title since, falling short in the finals in 2014 and going down to Windies in the semis two years later.