On 10th Anniversary Of World T20 Win, Gautam Gambhir Recalls The Match When His Bat Silenced Pakistan

Gautam Gambhir was the architect of India’s historic win in the final of the inaugural world T20 in South Africa in 2007. After Mahendra Singh Dhoni decided to bat first in the high-profile clash against arch-rivals Pakistan, India had their back against the wall .

Gambhir and Yusuf Pathan gave the Men in Blue a decent start by sharing a quickfire partnership of 25 runs but their innings soon derailed after Pakistan dismissed the likes of Robin Uthappa, in-form Yuvraj Singh as well as Dhoni cheaply. However, Gambhir held firm from one end and compiled a brilliant knock of 75 runs to guide the Men in Blue to a respectable total of 157 for 5 in the allotted 20 overs.

Gambhir’s knock turned out to be crucial as India won the final of the  inaugural World T20 by just 5 runs.

Pakistan did not look in contention to chase down the total for the major part of their innings. They lost wickets at regular intervals right from the start and were looking well out of the contest after being reduced to 77 for 6. However, Misbah-ul-Haq’s responsible knock and cameos from Yasir Arafat and Sohail Tanvir gave them a real shot at the title. With just 13 runs needed off the last over and Joginder Sharma conceding seven on the very first delivery, Pakistan were the favourites to win the game before Misbah went for the ambitious scoop shot and paid the price for it. The ball went straight into the hands of S Sreesanth as India won the game.

Sunday (September 24) is the tenth anniversary of the win and Gambhir took to Twitter to recall the game when his bat silenced the Men in Green.

“When bat is on Talk mode everything else is on Silent mode! 10 yrs back winning d 2007 @ICC T20 World Cup for u & for me,” Gambhir tweeted.

When bat is on Talk mode everything else is on Silent mode! 10 yrs back winning d 2007 @ICC T20 World Cup for u & for me. pic.twitter.com/ZrJ2l9HfK2

— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) September 24, 2017