The T-20 World Cup win did come as a surprise. I would be honest in saying that I did not expect the Indian team to do so well in the championship as we lacked the experience. Going into the tournament, we had played just one T-20 match earlier!!!! But.......Dhoni and Co. surprised the opponents and more than a billion fans.
Each and every match was full of excitement. The first match against Scotland was washed out but the second match against Pakistan was as good as one can ask for. It had enough twists and turns to take me to the verge of a heart attack. India started off on a disastrous note with three wickets falling quickly but recovered well afterwards. They took quick wickets at the start of the Pakistan innings and had the match in their grip till Misbah-ul-Haq started to fight back. The match was very much in Pakistan's lap till Sreesanth bowled his last two deliveries. They were not unplayable but were tough to negotiate. Thankfully Misbah-ul-Haq crumbled under pressure and it resulted in a tie. That led to the first bowl-out!!!! It was great to see the excitement on the faces of the players. Bowl-out was a clean sweep for the Indians and they won the match.
After losing to New Zealand in the first match of the Super8 phase, Indian team played amazingly well to qualify for the semi-finals. India beat England in a nail-biter. The highlight of the match were the six 6s that Yuvraj Singh hit of Stuart Broad. That was breath taking stuff and me and my wife were jumping in our living room giving high fives to each other!!!!
India beat South Africa or I should say South Africa lost to India. They have this knack of choking in crucial matches and this match was no exception. India, surprisingly, beat the Australians pretty comfortably in the semi-finals. The match was heading for a close finish and the Aussies required just 30 off the last 3 overs, easily achievable in T-20. Harbhajan Singh came up with a deadly over conceding just 3 runs and he took a wicket too!!! RP Singh followed that up with another good over with only 5 runs coming from it. That left Aussies with 22 to get in the last over......but the bowl was in the hands of Joginder Sharma. Sharma bowled sensibly and India won by 15 runs!!!! That was no small achievement.
Then came the big one.....the big daddy of all battles......India vs. Pakistan....in a World Cup final. It simply does not get any better than that. Like the match against Pakistan in the league phase, India once again started off with a weak start. Wickets kept falling on regular intervals and India could manage a score that was far from a good score.
At the half way mark, the match looked totally in grasp of the Pakistanis. They were also off to a shaky start but Imran Nazir was blasting everything in near vicinity. Some good bowling and sharp fielding brought us back in the match. We were pretty much in control when Misbah-ul-Haq (once again!!!) started hitting everyone for sixes. Sohail Tanvir too hit couple of lusty blows to take Pakistan to the brink of victory. Pakistan needed 13 off the last over and the bowl was in the hands of Joginder Sharma!!!! Sharma had gone for some heavy duty beating and no one was sure about this decision. He started off with a wide, followed that with a near wide and then was hit for six. Once again, I was on the verge of a massive heart attack. But then, Misbah-ul-Haq tried a cheeky shot which did not come off as desired by him......and ball landed in the waiting hands of Sreesanth.....and then a billion people back home went berserk!!!!
