We had nothing to lose in the ICC World Twenty20 in September 2007. We hadn’t played a lot of T20 cricket and hence not many people had given us a chance. Half the side reached South Africa from England, and the other half from India. I made it a point to tell the boys to keep things simple and enjoy themselves on the field. We made up our minds to give it everything in every game, play aggressive cricket, focus on the execution of our plans, and accept the result, whatever it was. Of course, it went without saying that we knew what would happen if we were to execute our plans perfectly.
The boys were enjoying each other’s company, and as it turned out, success, as the tournament went along. Their enthusiasm during the training sessions spilled over into the matches. We won the bowl-out against Pakistan, an outcome of our practice sessions, and thereafter went from strength to strength. New Zealand beat us, but we had the better of the game against England.
I had the best view of Yuvraj Singh’s assault on Stuart Broad. It was suggested that Yuvi attacked Broad the way he did because he was upset with something that Andrew Flintoff had said to him. Well, if this is true, then I wish opponents would say things to Yuvi all the time! In fact, I would encourage people to say things to him! He knocked the stuffing out of Broad. I saw the first four hits disappear over the fence from my position at the non-striker’s end. The fifth met with the same fate, and thereafter, I think the bowler had resigned himself to the inevitable. We were quite sure that he would hit six sixes by the time he had hit the fourth.
We went on to beat South Africa and Australia in the next two games, and then took on Pakistan in the final. What a game that was! We were in control when about five overs were left, but then Misbah-ul-Haq turned it around with some terrific hitting.
I had to choose between Joginder Sharma and Harbhajan Singh for the final over. Joginder was given the ball, because Misbah seemed to have got the measure of Bhajji. There was nothing ‘complicated’ about the decision. We thought Joginder would do a better job in the final over, and that was that. He bowled a wide early on. The worst thing we could have done at that stage was doubt his capabilities. Nothing was said, for he knew what he was supposed to do.
What went through my mind when I saw Sreesanth getting under Misbah’s scoop? I think I went blank. I was watching the ball all the way, from the moment it flew off Misbah’s bat. Sreesanth held it comfortably, and we froze for a fraction of a second. Thereafter, all hell broke loose!
The victory was the result of teamwork. Those of us who were part of that team will never forget the reception accorded to us in Mumbai.
