Twenty20 World Cup

' As they say, there is a mallu in every corner of the world and Misbah just found one at short fine-leg at the Wanderer's. And thus, India won the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 Championship by 5 runs. '

Cricket is religion in India. We have been ardent fans of the sport especially since India won the World Cup in 1983 and the World Championship series in 1984-85. But after that although we produced some great cricketers(including the greatest of all time-Sachin Tendulkar), failed to win big events. Semifinalist in World Cup'96, Runners up of the inaugural ICC Champion's trophy in 2000, were some of the near misses in terms of big tournaments for India. After a long drought, the first 'big' series win came when they shared the ICC Champions Trophy 2002-03 with Srilanka due to a washout of the final. Still it was not an earned victory, but with a little help from the weather.

Then came World Cup'03. The mighty Indian team led by the prince himself, Sourav Ganguly fought their way till the finals where they were to face with the defending champions - Australia. But as history has it, the famed Indian line-up succumbed under pressure once again and were thrashed by Punter and his men at the Wanderer's(only God knows why Dada chose to field first, despite winning the toss, on one of the best batting tracks in the world). To add to its World Cup woes, India was eliminated in the first round of World Cup'07 after being beaten by Srilanka and underdogs, Bangladesh. Their only chance to enter the second round was if Bermuda(guess they started playing cricket only in that year) could beat Bangladesh. Here lies the comedy, when an island nation of hardly one million population had more than a billion fans for its match against Bangladesh. But such miracles seldom happen and Bermuda was beaten and India kicked out.

All this while, Indian players were in the record books for various things but the ultimate trophy just did not come to us. After a period of transformation, a new look young Indian cricket team was formed led by a flamboyant skipper, Mahendra Singh Dhoni(who impressed everyone not only with his cricketing skills, but also with his hair style).

The Indian team flew to South Africa, the place where it had played its only T20 match(and won too) prior to the Twenty World Cup. Put in a group with arch rivals Pakistan and Scotland, India had a gloomy start to their campaign, with their first match against Scotland washed out and points shared. Consequently, the next match with Pakistan became crucial. And, as they say, when India meets Pakistan, there's always tension in the air. After an exciting match, the two teams ended up in a tie and India won the following bowl-out 3-0. And hence through to the next round.

Meanwhile, in the other matches a lot of interesting things were happening. Chris Gayle started the tournament of with a sparkling century(PS :- South Africa and West Indies share the distinction of playing the first match in three world cups successively - '03, '07 and T20. In all the three matches, Gayle faced the first ball of the match bowled by Shaun Pollock), only to see his team losing to the hosts and after that being eliminated in the first round by Bangladesh. Another upset was in the case of Australia when they were beaten by Zimbabwe, but somehow scraped through to the next round. Another notable match was Srilanka thrashing a hapless Kenya.

After all this it was time for the second round to commence, and India had a disappointing start to this round. After a blitzkrieg knock by Craig McMillan, New Zealand set India a target of 191 in 20 ovs. Despite a good start by the openers, the Indian middle-order could not see India through as they fell short by 10 runs. New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori leading from the front, picking up four wickets.

Next match for India was against England at Durban, the place with the maximum Indian population in South Africa. England had lost both its previous second round matches and everyone was expecting a strong comeback from them. India too was hoping to put up a fine show. But fine remained an understatement as the Indian openers, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir got them off to a flying start scoring 140 runs in just 15 ovs.

After their departure in came Yuvraj Singh(the last time he played against England, he was hit for five consecutive sixes by English batsman Dmitri Mascarenhas at the Oval). The first six balls he faced, he hit 3 boundaries and two singles. Then England call up Stuart Broad to bowl the penultimate over of the innings with Yuvraj on strike. With the next six balls, Yuvraj Singh set Kingsmead, Durban ablaze hitting six sixes in as many balls, the first one to do so in T20 cricket and thereby, scoring the fastest fifty in any form of the game scoring 50 in just 12 balls. The ball was carted to all parts of the ground leaving the England think-tank in disarray. He perished in the last over but he had done more than what he had to do.His team-mates all stood as he returned to Davy Jones' Locker ... er, the dugout. And the England batsman, though they too displayed some hitting prowess, could not near India. The difference between the two teams being Yuvraj and England coincidentally needed 36 in the last over(which they obviously failed to achieve).

With this facile win behind them, India was ready to face the hosts, at Kingsmead, Durban. But they were without the services of the other night's hero, Yuvraj, who was sitting out with an injury. But India did not miss Yuvi, as Rohit Sharma who replaced him scored a half century and hit the last ball of the innings for a six. Then R.P.Singh sealed the South African campaign with a four wicket haul. The hosts were knocked out of the tournament and their World Cup jinx continued.

Now the stage was set for the last four. Barring India, the others in the semifinal resembled that in World Cup'99, when Pakistan beat New Zealand in one semifinal and Australia beat South Africa in the other. This time, it was India in place of South Africa and as the team changed, so did the result of the semifinal.

The Men in Blue, stepped out again into the green pitch of Durban this time to face the mighty Australians, fresh from their third consecutive World Cup victory. But India was not to be intimidated as they had Yuvi back. And back he was, when he continued his assault which he had started against the English men, at the same ground. Yuvi hit 70 runs in just 30 balls, including a 117m flick six of Brett Lee and India finished with a resounding total of 188 and thinks looked obscure for Australia. But Hayden and Symonds had other plans, digging in with a crucial partnership for Australia, and just when things looked to go out of hand, Irfan Pathan broke the partnership removing Symonds and Sreesanth knocked over Hayden's middle stump, giving him his famous stare. India bowled Australia out of the tournament and marched into the finals - to face Pakistan again.

The Grand Finale of the first edition of this extravagant tournament was to be held at the capital city of Johannesburg - The Wanderer's. The same ground, where four years ago, Ganguly's team India was thrashed in a World Cup final and the same ground where India had lost its only match in this tourney - against New Zealand. All odds against India.

This time India chose to bat after winning the toss(unlike World Cup'03)

and Gambhir scored yet another half century for India, making him the highest run getter of the series. India finished with a modest 157. Pakistan struggled in the run chase loosing wickets at crucial stages but Misbah-ul-Haq, played a great innings and along with Sohail Tanvir saw Pakistan almost through. Pakistan required 13 runs in the last over and Dhoni handed the ball to the inexperienced Joginder Sharma. A wide followed by a dot ball marked the beginning of the over. And Misbah dispatched the next ball into the crowd for a six, making it 6 from 4 balls. And only God knows what Misbah was thinking, when he side-stepped and tried to slog sweep the next ball over fine leg, only to find Sreesanth at short fine-leg.



For a moment there was pin-drop silence when the ball was in the air but in the next there were loud cheers for India. As they say, there is a mallu in every corner of the world and Misbah just found one at short fine-leg at the Wanderer's. And thus, India won the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 Championship by 5 runs. Irfan Pathan was adjudged Man of the Match for his three wickets. And the Men in Blue reigned supremacy in the shortest version of the game. Cheers to India.