It was one of the moments that has been, and forever will be, etched in the minds of the cricket fans in India, as edge-of-the-seat moments such as this don't come quite often.
On this day, 24 September, eight years back, all Indian hopes rested on Haryana medium-pacer Joginder Sharma, as he was entrusted with the job of stopping Pakistan from hitting the necessary runs to win the World T20 final in 2007.
Inspirational skipper MS Dhoni chose Joginder ahead of Harbhajan Singh to deliver the final over. Of course, a gamble it was, but Dhoni wa ice-cool as always.
It was the final of the maiden ICC T20 World Cup, held between the teams with one of the greatest sporting rivalries in history – both on-and-off-the field. India played Pakistan in the final of the tournament at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on 24 September, 2007.
The nation's hopes depended on Joginder's final over of the game, as Pakistan needed 13 runs from six deliveries to make history, and lift the inaugural T20 World Cup.
Misbah-ul-Haq was batsman who was entrusted with the job of taking Pakistan home.
Here's how the last over of Joginder Sharma turned out:
1st delivery: A massive wide on the off-side (Pakistan need 12 to win from 6).
2nd delivery: A dot ball (Pakistan need 12 to win from 5).
3rd delivery: Misbah stepped up and blasted the chest-high full-toss from Joginder to make the ball fly over the boundary (Pakistan need 6 to win from 4).
It was a heart-stopping moment for the Indians, as the Pakistani fans rejoiced and cheered in unison. It was make or break for Dhoni and Co, as Misbah was just another big shot away from making history.
The heartbeats grew louder as Joginder started his runup for the next ball...
4th delivery: Misbah went for another big hit -- stepped out of his crease and walked across his stumps to scoop the ball high above. The ball never reached the boundary, but landed safely in the hands of Sreesanth, who was standing at short fine leg (Pakistan all out for 152 runs from 19.3 overs).
What followed was pure euphoria. India (157/5) won by five runs to lift the inaugural T20 World Cup.
Relive the moment:
