'I Got Overconfident': Misbah-ul-Haq On Playing Scoop Shot Against Joginder Sharma In 2007 T20 WC Final

Former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq admitted that he was overconfident while playing the scoop shot against India in the 2007 T20 World Cup final.

Pakistan were chasing a meager target of 158 to lift the inaugural title in the shortest format. Pakistan, who were nine wickets down, needed 13 runs off six balls to clinch the title.

Joginder Sharma started the over with a wide and got smacked by Misbah for a six on the second ball. The very next ball, Joginder got the biggest wicket of his life after he lured Misbah to scoop behind but the ball ended safely in the hands of S Sreesanth at short fine-leg.

I used to beat fine leg with that shot: Misbah-ul-Haq

15 years after that historic event, the former Pakistan player accepted that he had played the same shot plenty of times in the tournament and was overconfident of playing it once more.

“In 2007, I always say that throughout every game, I scored so many fours playing that shot. Even with the fine leg in place, I was taking singles while playing that shot against Australia. Against spinners, I used to beat fine leg with that shot,” Misbah told Shoaib Akhtar on the latter’s YouTube channel.

“So, you can say I got overconfident. I mistimed the shot on which I had the most confidence,” he added.

Misbah-ul-Haq retired from cricket in 2017

Misbah led the Pakistan cricket team in 87 Tests and 56 ODI matches between 2008-2015. He made 11,132 runs across all formats in the international stage with 10 Test hundreds to his name.

Misbah retired from the game in 2017 and was appointed Pakistan’s head coach after the removal of Mickey Arthur because the team failed to make the semi-final stage in the 2019 World Cup.

Misbah stepped down from the role of  Pakistan team’s head coach just a couple of months before the T20 World Cup last year. Former Pakistan pacer Waqar Younis also stepped down from the bowling coach’s role along with Misbah at the same time.

Also Read: Misbah-ul-Haq Likely To Become Chief Coach Of Afghanistan Cricket Team