Giant Killers: India and The Twenty20 World Cup 2007

24th September 2007 marked a new era for Indian cricket. Some may call it fate, others may deem it to be an irony - but in cricketing terms, it was something that most people wouldn't have predicted at the beginning of a Twenty20 World Cup. 

The dominant forces in cricket at the time were knocked out by two of the underdogs -two teams which had got ignominiously knocked out in the first round of their respective 2007 World Cup campaigns just months earlier.

For India and Pakistan, the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa gave them an opportunity to exorcise the demons of the World Cup in West Indies held months earlier and redeem themselves by performing in what was a new form of the game.

This tournament was a burden for the BCCI. They laboured to put together a team, and selected an untested captain in Mahendra Singh Dhoni. They didn't care about what would happen in this tournament because for them, it was more of an interruption than anything else.

Little did they know that Dhoni and his boys had different plans altogether.

The first match of the tournament for India started on a negative note, with a game against Scotland being rained off. That meant that they had to beat their eternal rivals, Pakistan in the following game to qualify for the Super 8's. What ensued was a tightly contested affair, with India putting up 141 runs on the board. Pakistan looked to be cruising to a win but late wickets slowed their progress and the match, incredibly, finshed in a tie.

The second ever bowl-out in an internation T20 followed, with Vinder Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Robin Uthappa all knocking down the stumps from their three deliveries. Pakistan, on the other hand, couldn't manage to rattle the stumps even once and India won an incredible game to go through to the next round.

India lost their first game in the Super 8's to New Zealand by 10 runs in a high scoring game. A crunch game against England was up next, and Yuvraj Singh's six sixes in an over from Stuart Broad propelled India to an incredible 218 from 20 overs. For a batsman to smash a fast bowler all around the park was one thing, but to do it in a do or die game was quite another.

India went on to win that game to eliminate England, and faced an in-form South Africa in the next game. This was yet another must-win for the Indians against the hosts, who looked to book their place in the inaugural tournament. 

In yet another tightly contested game - India made 153 runs, which was a par score at best. South Africa started well, but some phenomenal fielding from India prevented South Africa to get continue their momentum as they eventually crumbled to 116/9 from their 20 overs. 

This meant that India eliminated one of the big-guns of T20 cricket in South Africa, who enjoyed home support. A tournament which looked like a mere inconvenience now seemed to be bearing fruits with the likes of Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, and M.S. Dhoni doing impressively with the bat. The likes of R.P. Singh, Harbhajan Singh and S. Sreesanth also chipped in with their bowling efforts.

The win against South Africa set up a mouth-watering semi-final clash against ODI Champions, Australia. Many Indians, while quietly confident, would have feared getting beaten by the juggernaut that was Australian cricket at the time. 

However, India batted impressively - putting up 183 runs on the board. A Matthew Hayden inspired Australia looked on course to reach the finals of the tournament, but late wickets scuppered their chance to reach the target and the young Indian team got yet another major scalp en route to the inaugural T20 World Cup.

The last game of the tournament for India meant that they came a full circle. The final pitted them against Pakistan, with the both the underdogs in the tournament playing out of their skins to reach the final. While Pakistan arguably had an easier route to the final, they were a formidable force with Shahid Afridi firing on all cylinders.

It was to be yet another tightly contested affair with India posting 157 runs, courtesy a half-century from Gambhir and an impressive knock from Rohit Sharma. Pakistan began impressively, but started losing wickets in a heap in the middle of the innings. In came Misbah ul-Haq, who smashed the ball to all parts of the stadium to set up an intriguing finale.

Wickets started tumbling yet again and as Misbah started losing partners, 13 runs were required off the last over which was to be bowled by Joginder Sharma. As everyone had their hearts in their mouths, Sharma bowled a wide in the first ball, followed by a dot. The next ball saw Misbah smash the ball for six, leaving Pakistan needing just 6 runs off the last four balls. The final ball saw Misbah trying to scoop the ball over short fine leg, only to be caught by Sreesanth in scenes that most Indians would remember fondly.

Pakistan were bowled out, incredibly, for 152 runs as India went on to win the inaugural T20 World Cup, 2007.

This Indian team was shorn of the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Zaheer Khan. With a new captain, and a rejuvenated bunch of youngsters, they did what many people never thought they were capable of. Beating South Africa at home and a dominant Australia en route to a final win over Pakistan meant that this team had its name inscribed in Indian cricketing folklore.

This tournament made a huge impact on Indian cricket. M.S. Dhoni went on to captain the Indian ODI side. He promptly led them to a CB Series win in Australia months later. Virender Sehwag, who was dropped from the Indian team for his consistent poor form, rediscovered his best form and cemented his spot in the Indian ODI and Test teams. Harbhajan Singh also rediscovered his form, with youngsters like Rohit Sharma and R.P. Singh receiving plaudits for their batting and bowling performances respectively.

The BCCI saw the impact of T20 in India, and promptly put plans in motion for starting what would be known as the Indian Premier League. 

No one gave India even a bit of hope before the start of the tournament - but they proved otherwise. 

The rest, as they say, is history.