Reliving India’s 2007 T20 World Cup Triumph: Lalchand Rajput’s Reflections
India clinched 2007 T20I World Cup: “It was the first T20 World Cup, so no one knew what it was about”
Misbah-ul-Haq had a lot of options with Joginder Sharma’s seemingly innocent delivery. He tried to scoop, but all he managed to do was toss the ball to S Sreesanth at short fine-leg. And the winners of the first T20 World Cup were India. Today, fifteen years ago in Johannesburg. And the celebration for India began.
“Because we created history, those memories will last forever. On the sidelines of the Legends League Cricket event, where he is coaching Bhilwara Kings, Lalchand Rajput, the coach of India at the time, stated, “No one was expecting us to win.” “Everyone was talking about the youthful team, with a new coach (me), and a new captain (MS Dhoni), who were both taking on new roles before we even left for South Africa.
However, we felt inspired to take action. And we made history when we won the World Cup.”
Considering that this was a new format, India managed to win the T20 World Cup despite having only participated in one T20I prior to the competition. Also, a large number of senior professionals, including Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, and Sachin Tendulkar, have chosen to not participate. With players like Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, and Gautam Gambhir in the mix, it wasn’t exactly a motley crew, but nobody gave them a chance. They prevailed nonetheless.
Since it was the inaugural T20 World Cup, nobody was aware of its purpose. Nobody possessed experience,” Rajput remarked. “India have only played one Twenty20 international match prior to the World Cup. The players in the format have changed since the 2008 IPL began. A lot of players have spent a lot of time playing. Numerous players with X-factors are included in the Indian World Cup team [for 2022]. We had Yuvraj and Sehwag at the time. Currently, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, and Suryakumar Yadav are present.”
Prior to the World Cup, India has benefited greatly from Hardik Pandya’s return to form as an impact all-arounder in the top T20 class, as it has helped the squad find the ideal balance.
“India should play with five bowlers and go with Pandya as the sixth bowler,” Rajput stated. “Because you should have a choice if a bowler is having a rough day. Since we used to bowl spin when we won in 2007, I would go with a combination of two spinners and three medium pacers, with Bhajji (Harbhajan) and Yuvi (Yuvraj) bowling fast.
“The present lineup is good, but how you play on any given day will determine how things turn out. For one bowler or one batsman can change the outcome of a match in this format. Thus, we must always perform at the highest level possible.”
Thanks for the information 🙂
Keep supporting