It's been 10 years since MS Dhoni and his group of young men created history by winning the inaugural edition of the World T20 in South Africa. The famous victory changed the landscape of limited-overs cricket by paving way for the cash-rich franchise-based cricket -- Indian Premier League.
The tournament was a life-changer for many, including skipper Dhoni, who showcased his nerves of steel to the world for the first time during the nail-biting final against Pakistan, which India won by five runs.
Glory after humiliation at world stage
The iconic win made the cricket-crazy country forget the bruises of the humiliating group stage exit at the 50-over World Cup that was played between March 13 and April 28 in 2007.
Senior members of the team, including Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, had opted against featuring in the shortest format of the game. Not many gave India a chance to go the distance, but the Men in Blue battled against odds and crushed the likes of South Africa, Australia and England en route to glory.
Dhoni's leadership, collective effort
A lot was spoken about Dhoni's leadership after the last-over thriller on September 24, 2007, in Johannesburg. With a bunch of unknown faces, the Ranchi dasher did the unimaginable. It was evident that the group of 15 members gelled well under a new captain, whose unprecedented tactics worked wonders for the team.
Senior members of the team -- Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Harbhajan Singh -- flourished under Dhoni. Notably, India made their way through difficult situations with collective performances.
The iconic Yuvraj blinder
As it turns out, Lalchand Rajput, who was appointed as the cricket manager of the team right before the World T20 in 2007, reveals Yuvraj Singh's brutal knock, which included six sixes in an over, against England in a group-stage encounter on September 19 helped the team believe they could go on to win the title.
Yuvraj, by virtue of the six sixes off Stuart Broad in the 19th over of the Indian innings, also hit the fastest fifty in T20 cricket. The left-hander did not stop there as he hurt Australia in the tournament's semi-final with a 30-ball 70.
"I think, it was the England game, when Yuvraj (Singh) hit six sixes, that was the game when we started believing that we are in this tournament to win it. That belief really went on and then we went on to beat Australia, the only game we lost was against New Zealand," Rajput told Cricbuzz.
He added: "The England game in more ways than one brought us the momentum and we were also able to carry it forward."
The Joginder gamble
Rajput also revealed how Dhoni followed his gut feeling and preferred Joginder Sharma over the likes of established names in Harbhajan and RP Singh for the iconic final over of the tournament.
Notably, Pakistan needed 13 from the last six balls and India needed just a wicket. Joginder, despite conceding a six early in the over, was able to remove skipper Misbah-ul-Haq, much to the delight of millions back home.
"Even in the earlier game (before the final), Joginder Sharma had bowled the last over against Australia. The captain always decides who he wants in that crucial situation. You have gut feelings... there was Sreesanth, Harbhajan and RP. Dhoni just went with his gut feeling there because nobody knew Joginder so well," Rajput added.
