They came, they saw, they fought and unexpectedly conquered. This is how probably the fir
st ever T 20 world cup would be penned down in the pages of history. Indians who were nowhere before the start of the tournament, finally emerged as the world cup champions, a dream which was cherished in the hearts of billions since 1983 but it would be too early to draw any kind of comparisons between the two feats.
The very first match set the tone for the tournament with Gayle from windies hitting towering sixes all around the park putting up an impressive score of 206 in 20 overs only to be over achieved by protease. The opener sent the signal that this format for weak and mediocre. What we saw later on would always be etched on the heart of every Indian for ages to come.
The first match with Ireland forced both teams to share points due to rains. Yuvraj
chose Englishmen for his dinner as he pounced on them hitting famous six sixes in one over from poor Broad, Flintoff by then just learnt the lesson of not igniting the tiger of Punjab and his facial expression after the third six was hit said it all. I personally believe that the argument between the two just before Broad’s over had a great influence of what Broad had to face for the next six balls. Collingwood helplessly changed fielding but Yuvi was in no mood to show any mercy.
st ever T 20 world cup would be penned down in the pages of history. Indians who were nowhere before the start of the tournament, finally emerged as the world cup champions, a dream which was cherished in the hearts of billions since 1983 but it would be too early to draw any kind of comparisons between the two feats.The very first match set the tone for the tournament with Gayle from windies hitting towering sixes all around the park putting up an impressive score of 206 in 20 overs only to be over achieved by protease. The opener sent the signal that this format for weak and mediocre. What we saw later on would always be etched on the heart of every Indian for ages to come.
The first match with Ireland forced both teams to share points due to rains. Yuvraj
chose Englishmen for his dinner as he pounced on them hitting famous six sixes in one over from poor Broad, Flintoff by then just learnt the lesson of not igniting the tiger of Punjab and his facial expression after the third six was hit said it all. I personally believe that the argument between the two just before Broad’s over had a great influence of what Broad had to face for the next six balls. Collingwood helplessly changed fielding but Yuvi was in no mood to show any mercy. The match of the tournament for me was the first league match between the archrivals India and Pakistan. The battle that every one waits and none of them could afford to lose. India set up a mediocre score of 143 but did well to restrict Pakistan to produce the first ever bowl out, a method to decide the winner pretty much on the lines of penalty shoot out in football. Indians seemed pretty relaxed and enjoying and hit first three while Pakis made a mess of it not hitting even once! As a result India won the bowl out and world realized that the euphoria and t
he aura around Indo – Pak clash isn’t exaggeration but for real and by far the best sporting clash between any two arch rivals.Riding high on pak win, Mahi’s boys did not look back and despite the loss to new Zealand, beat big players of the ring by kicking South Africa out ofthe tournament. Greame Smith by then realized that his team has lost more than just a match. The next big battle, which every one expected including me India to lose, was against aussies. India again reminded them that this format can’t be taken for granted and you need more than just skills and power to win here. India stunned the world and entered finals only to realize that they will be facing Pakistan once again but this time in a battle of life time, a battle which would define death or life for either of the teams.
Like a good commercial bollywood movie, the plot thickened towards the end as Pakistan too proved its point and was now face to face with Indians in the finals of the world cup. A cl
ash that every Indian and Pakistani dreamt and his or her prayers got answered. India entered finals with the tag of favorites and were truly were till the last o
ver when Misbah from Pakistan stunned the billion population of India by hitting a six off Joginder Sharma. The victory was just a strike away for Pakistanis, as they required only 6 runs off 4 balls. The only hope India had was to take the final wicket and then Joginder Sharma bowled the delivery of his life, Misbah tried to loop it over the fine leg only to balloon it towards square leg for a fine catch to be taken by Sreesanth. The whole India erupted in joy.
ash that every Indian and Pakistani dreamt and his or her prayers got answered. India entered finals with the tag of favorites and were truly were till the last o
ver when Misbah from Pakistan stunned the billion population of India by hitting a six off Joginder Sharma. The victory was just a strike away for Pakistanis, as they required only 6 runs off 4 balls. The only hope India had was to take the final wicket and then Joginder Sharma bowled the delivery of his life, Misbah tried to loop it over the fine leg only to balloon it towards square leg for a fine catch to be taken by Sreesanth. The whole India erupted in joy. The pictures that we saw will not erase ever from our hearts. After 24 years, India won the world cup!Celebrations, praises and awards are being showered over the mahis’s team and why I am labeling the team with his name is because of the leadership he has shown during the tournament keeping his cool at the crunch situations and making the right choices at the right time. Bowlers in my opinion still are the weak link but the heartful performances by Pathan, RP and Shreesanth does ignite a strong light of hope which I hope becomes thicker with time…but for now, in the race of fast and furious, Indians lead!
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