Twin World Cup wins: There is seething disappointment among the Indian fans with the latest developments. India’s continual abysmal performances worryingly seem to be never-ending. The fans are awaiting a new dawn. But there was a phase in Indian cricket where everything the team touched turned to gold. India was in a similarly low phase post the ODI World Cup in 2007. The team though turned a corner post the debacle.
Twin World Cup wins:
India won the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 in South Africa. The young team under MS Dhoni went on to script history. India then went on to win the ODI World Cup at home in 2011 defying all expectations and odds. It was the first instance of a country winning a World Cup at home. 5 players were part of both the World Cup winning finals.
We look at 5 of those players:
#5 Harbhajan Singh
He had a relatively subdued final on both occasions. Harbhajan Singh was taken to the cleaners in the T20 World Cup final in 2007. He couldn’t complete his full quota of four overs as he leaked runs each over. Singh had a better ODI World Cup final as he removed Tilakaratne Dilshan bowling him around his legs. He was one of the unsung heroes of both World Cup campaigns. Singh’s skills came to the fore especially in the semis on both occasions.
#4 S. Sreesanth
He was considered to be the lucky charm. S. Sreesanth had bowled a terrific spell in the T20 World Cup semifinal against the semis. In a game where runs were scored at 9.5 per over, Sreesanth picked 2 wickets conceding just 12 runs.
It proved to be the difference as India won the game by 15 runs. Sreesanth wasn’t a regular member of the playing XI in the 2011 World Cup. In a surprising move, MS Dhoni roped in Sreesanth for the finals. He was expensive conceding 52 runs off 8 overs.
#3 Yuvraj Singh
He is the man for the big tournaments. Yuvraj Singh was the player of the tournament in the U-19 World Cup in 2000. He was at his absolute peak between 2005 – 11. It was Yuvraj Singh who turned India’s T20 campaign around in 2007. Yuvraj instilled the belief that we can win the tournament. He went on to replicate the feat in 2011 with a player of the tournament award. Yuvraj is the only player to win the award at the junior and senior men’s World Cups. He had quiet finals on both occasions though.
#2 Gautam Gambhir
He was arguably India’s best big-match player. Gautam Gambhir was India’s highest run-getter in the 2007 T20 World Cup. He was the highest scorer in the finals against Pakistan wherein his 75 helped India post a total of 157. India was under tremendous pressure in the 2011 World Cup final. Virender Sehwag got out for a duck when Gambhir walked in. He scored a memorable 97 before being bowled. Indian fans will forever remember his contribution to the twin World Cup victories.
#1 MS Dhoni
The moment the Indian team loses a multi-nation tournament, the fans hark back their thoughts to the Midas man. MS Dhoni under his tenure won India possibly every single trophy in a span of six years (2007 – 13). He led India to an improbable inaugural T20 World Cup win in 2007 while in 2011 he rallied his troops in front of the home crowd to glory.
Both the World Cup finals had the stamp of Dhoni’s genius. In 2007 he asked the rookie Joginder Sharma to bowl the final over. Dhoni took the matter into his own hands in 2011 when he walked in ahead of an in-form Yuvraj to tackle Lankan spinners.
It is not for nothing that Indian fans miss these stars, a few bonafide legends in their own right. Indian cricket was something else in that period! PERIOD!
