New Delhi : It’s been 10 years now but Indians still cannot forget that night. Television images of a disconsolate Pakistani batsman Misbah-ul-Haq; contrasted with the euphoria of fans, not to forget the team, has been etched into every Indian’s memory. MS Dhoni and his band of “outsiders” — this team included none of the greats: Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman — had achieved what this country had been wanting for so long, a World Cup triumph.
Looking back on this journey, Yuvraj Singh believes that an intrinsic part of the team’s success in the tournament was the fact that they had failed before in major tournaments and expectations were low. “The 2003 (50 over final when India lost to Australia) and 2007 (50 over World Cup final) was an absolute nightmare, we were literally in hiding after that. After that, to come out victorious was special and that too in an India-Pakistan final, there cannot be a better way to win.”
Recalling the now iconic bus ride from Mumbai airport to Wankhede stadium, he said, “When we landed in Mumbai, it was raining a little bit and lot of the guys thought that maybe no one will come out and receive us. We never expected the reception that we got in the streets… When we saw the people and the good wishes coming from all over the country did we realise the magnitude of what we had achieved.”
According to Yuvraj, winning the T-20World Cup changed a lot of things for Indian cricket. From a team that was perceived as crumbling in major tournaments and not able to beat good sides regularly, the T-20 World Cup victory gave MS Dhoni and his men confidence, which resulted in the 50-over World Cup victory in 2011. This Indian team had come a long way from 2003.
Given all this, it comes as something of a surprise when Yuvraj says that the epic India-Pakistan final was not the most thrilling game in the tournament. The more exciting match, for him, was the qualifier match that India and Pakistan played in the tournament
“Both were thrilling — the final and the qualifier (match against Pakistan). I feel the qualifier match was a bit more exciting because it was a tie and it went to a bowl out and the guys who bowled for us were not regular bowlers so it was a more fun game. For me, it was a more fascinating game than the final.”
But having fun and keeping cool was not always easy. India had lost a game to New Zealand and had to win all three games against England, South Africa and Australia in order to make the final. It was there that the team showed their mettle and it was here that Yuvraj — in the match against England — hit those iconic six sixes in an over.
Asked to recall the special moment, Yuvraj smiled and said, “I remember Dhoni going in to bat before me because the team had always talked about wanting a left-right hand combination at the crease. As a result, I came in with three overs to spare so I just thought I have to swing from the very first ball. It was just my day.
But Yuvraj may not have been fired up enough to hit those six sixes if it hadn’t been for English fast bowler Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff. Flintoff and Yuvraj have a history and that this time too before Yuvraj took strike against Stuart Board, Fintoff had let him know what he thought of him.
The six sixes story is a great one. But one cannot let Yuvraj go without asking the question that every Indian cricket fan wants to know, why, just why, did MS Dhoni entrust the ball to the relatively inexperienced Joginder Sharma in the last over. “Me and MS had a chat and we felt that Bhajji (Harbhajan Singh) with his experience should bowl the last over. But Bhajji said I’ve been trying to hit my yorker it’s not coming off, I think you should bowl a fast bowler. So MS took the call to bowl Joginder.”
