The 2007 ODI World Cup failure was a huge setback for the Indian side, who had entered the tournament as one of the favourites to grab the title. With posters being torn and players' houses being pelted by stones, India arrived in South Africa for the inaugural T20 World Cup with a bunch of unknowns led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
They went on to steal the heart of the tournament and returned home with the title to soothe the sore feeling amongst Indian fans and record one of India's most memorable World titles. Here we take a glance at the best moments from the tournament for India.
On September 24, 2007 - #India won 1st #ICC #T20 #WorldCup defeating #Pakistan by 5 runs in final at #Johannesburg. pic.twitter.com/mjdjHJO9zG
— All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) September 24, 2016
The interesting Bowl-out
India's league game against Pakistan went down to the wire after Mohammad Asif's stringent spell restricted India to 141. Pakistan struggled to gain momentum in their innings and eventually ended up making the exact same score after they needed 12 to win from the final over.
In the subsequent Bowl-out, an innovative method to separate teams in the event of a tie, India - Sehwag, Harbhajan and Uthappa calling shots - hit the stumps all three times while the Pakistani bowlers missed it all three times.
Yuvraj’s six sixes
One everlasting memory from India'a cricketing history would always be an angry Yuvraj Singh thumping Stuart Broad for six sixes in an over at Durban. A win against England was inevitable for India and when Andrew Flintoff tried to get under the skin of Yuvraj, the left-hander retorted with fire.
The outburst though was most felt by Broad who was slammed for six sixes in the over in a remarkable onslaught by the left-hander. His unrestrained hitting gave India a massive total but its impact was perhaps best understood after England came close in the run chase.
Dominating the favourites
India were in the semi-finals after some mind-blowing performances in the tournament but had to topple the indomitable Aussies. Led by Yuvraj Singh, India ended up making 188 with the southpaw smashing 70 in 30 balls. During Yuvraj's stay at the wicket, India made 114 runs in 57 balls.
Despite a winning total on board, India were still wary of the big-hitting Aussie batsmen. Andrew Symonds and Matthew Hayden were on the offensive but Sreesanth ended the partnership by cleaning up Hayden and ended with impressive match figures of 4-1-12-3.
The final heist
Pit against Pakistan yet again in the finals, India opted to bat first and sprung a surprise by opening with Yusuf Pathan. But it was Gautam Gambhir who stole the show with a 75 as India made 157, a less than convincing total yet good enough for the finals of a tournament.
Pakistan were left reeling at 104 for seven when Misbah-ul-Haq launched a single-handed effort. His counter-attack put Pakistan back in the game and in the end they needed 13 in one over. The Indian skipper, MS Dhoni, threw the ball to Joginder Sharma in a surprising move and Misbah immediately made India regret it with a six off the second ball.
With six needed from four balls, Misbah looked to scoop the medium pacer and ended up gifting a catch to fine leg where Sreesanth held on as India celebrated their title win.
Read: Five most iconic moments of Indian cricket
Feature image courtesy: Twitter / @GautamGambhir
