What Are India’s 2007 ICC T20I World Cup Winning Members Up To Now?

What Are India’s 2007 ICC T20I World Cup Winning Members Up To Now? World Cups have Always held a special place in the heart of the fans and cricketers, as it gives a great sense of pride for the individuals. Over the years, we came across many countries sealing the cup while few are still waiting to make things fall in place.

Amidst all those world cups, there came another world cup with 20 overs aside. Those were the days when the Indian cricketers were at the receiving end following the poor show in the 50-over format. But, what followed it was something special, as India lifted the inaugural T20I world cup, which also gave birth to the rise of a champion skipper.

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2007 ICC T20I World Cup Winners – Where Are They Now:

1. Virender Sehwag:

Almost every game, he was successful in scoring quick runs for the team. Virender Sehwag made many decisive contributions during the successful campaign. Unfortunately, he failed to find a place in the final game owing to an injury. However, he delivered a few scintillating performances for the team.

Later, he delivered goods in India’s successful 2011 world cup campaign. Strength in the Indian team for over a decade, Sehwag’s form descended dramatically after winning the World Cup, scoring just one century in fifteen ODIs. Sehwag declared his retirement from international cricket at the age of 37. Sehwag is still close to the game as an expert and commentator. He has also mentored Kings XI Punjab in the IPL and also tried to coach the Indian team.

2. Gautam Gambhir:

This man will be remembered in the heart of the fans for many reasons. One of those reasons is his amazing knock in the final of the tournament against Pakistan. He was then a mainstay in the Indian team until the 2011 World Cup, where again he scored a string of the fifties and a crucial knock in the final to help India win the trophy.

He was named the Captain for a 5-match series against New Zealand, where he won 5-0, bringing up rumours of him succeeding MS Dhoni as ODI Captain. But poor form found him out, and he failed to score a single century in over 30 innings. He was dropped from the squad in 2013 but was called back for a Test series the next year, where he failed to make an impact.

In 2018, he announced his retirement from all formats of the game. He recently won in the Lok Sabha elections as a BJP candidate and currently working for the party. Besides that, he is also a writer.

3. Robin Uthappa:

Uthappa was an unsung hero of the Indian team. Whenever the team was under pressure, he used to get into the middle to bail out with his exceptional batting. He developed the art of scooping the balls, which worked like a magic to yield a few quick runs.

He scored a handy half-century in the opening match against Pakistan and then gave Yuvraj Singh good company in the semi-finals against Australia. His timely run-out of Imran Nazir in the finals was what changed the complexion of the game.

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But fitness issues and lack of form led to him being dropped, and he has scored heavily in the domestic circuit to make up for it. Though he toured Zimbabwe, he never got the chance since then. Currently, he is playing domestic cricket.

4. Rohit Sharma:

There is a dramatic change in the career graph for Rohit Sharma following the successful campaign in 2007. Rohit made his T20I debut at the age of 20 during the 2007 tournament, after getting an ODI cap, a couple of months earlier. But the talent shown at a young age has not fully been realised.

After being in and out of all three formats for India, he is now a regular. He was part of the World Cup squad, has an ODI double-century to his name and, still has time on his side to prove that he belongs at Test level. Currently, he is the vice-captain of India and also a force to reckon in the limited-overs format.

5. Yuvraj Singh:

He was the man behind the smile of a billion people. It was a career-best tournament for him before making the 2011 ICC World Cup as his own. The tournament witnessed the heroics of Yuvraj Singh to the core. It was the same tournament when Yuvraj Singh smashed a brilliant 6 sixes off Stuart Broad over.

His subsequent 70 off 30 balls against Australia sealed India’s entry into the finals, and he was undoubtedly the best player in the tournament. After his rehabilitation for cancer, Yuvraj attempted a return to the side, but he was never the same. His timing and footwork had dropped, and he found it hard to retain his place in the side.

Due to repeated failures in the IPL and 2014 ICC World T20, Yuvraj was dropped from all three formats of the game in 2014 and recently, he called curtains on his career.

6. Mahendra Singh Dhoni:

It was his first assignment to lead the side in a big tournament and guess what he did the job with utmost success rate. The Indian skipper made things fall in place and it was the moment, which helped Indian cricket to revive in the game again. Since then, MS Dhoni had achieved a great success for India across the formats before leaving the captaincy.

The 2007 ICC World T20 changed the face of Indian cricket, and MS Dhoni was at the helm of it. His Midas touch floored every opposition in his way, and he quickly rose to become Indian captain in all three formats.

Currently, he is away from playing International cricket and took sabbatical leave. It would be interesting to see whether he would end his career after playing world cup T20 in 2020.

7. Piyush Chawla:

Haven’t played many matches. He is one of the fortunate cricketers to be included in the side. Chawla had a minimal role to play in India’s victory. Besides a one-Test come back in 2012 and four T20 internationals in the same year, he has not played for India at all.

Piyush Chawla is a very important member of KKR’s team and he is preparing for the upcoming edition of Indian Premier League and also playing for his domestic team as well.

In conjunction with Sunil Narine and Kuldeep Yadav, Chawla has formed an intimidating spin trio at KKR, winning a number of matches for the side.

8. Harbhajan Singh:

The veteran spinner at present played a massive role for the Indian team during ICC World Cup 2007. He used to give the depth with bat and bowled those crucial spells. Harbhajan Singh, who not only was the wicket-taker for the Indian side, he also had one of the best economy rates amongst the Men in Blue.

In September 2011, he was dropped from the ODI side, and soon, in October of the same year, he was dropped from the Test side. Though he received T20 international recalls in 2012 and 2016, and Test recalls in 2012, 2013, and 2015, all of these returns to the side were sporadic, some lasting only for a solitary match.

Harbhajan Singh has reached the last stage of career and he is also working hard at the domestic level in hope of a comeback. Currently, he is playing for CSK in IPL.

9. Ajit Agarkar:

Ajit Agarkar used to be the best bowler of India under Sourav Ganguly but he failed to continue the same under Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He played only 3 games in the tournament and leaked runs on most of the occasions.

After the tournament, he fell out of favour with the selectors due to a lack of form and injuries. He managed a brief return in 2008 but was not able to deliver. Ajit was part of the Ranji-trophy winning Mumbai team in 2009 and 2010, before retiring from all forms of cricket in 2013.

He now provides expert opinions on cricket on several channels and sports websites. In 2016, he won a corporate tournament and qualified to represent India in the World Corporate Golf Challenge and won.

10. Yusuf Pathan:

Yusuf Pathan was made a part of the Indian squad for the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship after his impressive performance in domestic cricket. Though Yusuf Pathan only played in one match in the ICC World T20, it was the crucial one – the final. Later, he made his ODI debut for Indian against Pakistan in 2008.

He was selected in the team to play 2009 ICC World Twenty20 championships but in late-2009, he was dropped from the limited-overs team after a series of unproductive performances. He is currently a member of Baroda Ranji Team.

11. Dinesh Karthik:

If there is any particular moment to remember for Dinesh Karthik, it would be the catch he took in slip cordon of Graeme Smith. It was a sensational catch during those times and received many accolades for his athletic fielding. However, he was never a regular in the team and always been the backup of MS Dhoni.

Though Karthik was in and out of the team on several occasions, he failed to get a permanent spot. Karthik was also one of the most expensive players of the IPL for two consecutive seasons. Currently, he plays for Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy and for KKR in the IPL.

12. Joginder Sharma:

Who can forget him? He was the guy, who bowled that crucial over when Misbah-ul-Haq was in the middle smashing the bowlers to all corners of the park. He held his nerve and delivered the goods under pressure.

Joginder Sharma became the overnight star of cricket when he turned the whole game by taking the last wicket of Pakistan in last over. Pakistan needed 12 runs in last four balls but Joginder Sharma took the wicket of Misbah and made India a world champion.

But Joginder’s career failed to fly after the world cup as he couldn’t make it to any international matches after that. He then joined Haryana Police and is now working on the post of DSP there. He is also a member of the Haryana Ranji team.

13. S Sreesanth:

If Joginder will be remembered for his last over, Sreesanth will be remembered for that catch, he took at fine leg. With an impressive spell of 2-12 against Australia in the semi-final, Sreesanth seemed destined to be India’s pace spearhead, but the inconsistent form and a tendency to give away easy runs made him lose his place in the side.

He was banned for life from playing Cricket by the BCCI, for his involvement in spot-fixing in the 2013 IPL season. He made his acting debut in a Malayalam movie Big Picture. His ban will be ended in 2020, which will allow him to play the game again.

14. Irfan Pathan:

Irfan Pathan became the man of the match in 2007 T20 World Cup as he took three wickets in the match against Pakistan in final. But he was dropped in ODI after a year as his economy rate continued to trend upwards and subsequently struggled with a loss of form and injuries. He couldn’t maintain his place in the team as his bowling was not effective enough.

He played his last Test match in 2008. During 2011-12 Ranji Trophy, his performance earned him a recall for India’s ODI squad in 2012. He is currently a member of Jammu & Kashmir Ranji Team.

15. RP Singh:

He finished with 12 wickets in 7 games, with excellent performances against South Africa and Pakistan. His ability to swing the ball under lights made him a tough bowler to play shots against. Singh emerged as the second-highest wicket-taker in the entire competition of 2007 T20 World Cup.

In August 2011 RP Singh was called up to the India squad for the remainder of the tour of England but he has never come back to international cricket after that. He emerged as the highest wicket-taker of IPL 2011 tournament from the Deccan Chargers.