5 Times Team India scripted memorable wins from the brink of defeat
Indian fans went through raw emotions as Virat Kohli and Co. thumped New Zealand in a nail-biting thriller, which culminated with Rohit Sharma winning it for India in a Super Over.
3. Misbah-ul-Haq again bottles the run-chase
Occasion: ICC T20 World Cup 2007, Group Stage encounter; India won via bowl out
The 2007 T20 World Cup is arguably one of the best-ever global ICC events of the 21st century. And, I’m not saying that because India won the whole damn thing- to an extent, yes- but because of so many marquee moments that the tournament threw up.
Yuvraj’s six sixes off Stuart Broad, Zimbabwe’s incredible win over Australia, yet another South African choke, the eventual India-Pakistan final and that Misbah-ul-Haq‘s fatal scoop off Joginder Sharma are some of the many moments that no cricket fan can ever forget. But how can one forget that bowl-out between India and Pakistan in the league-stage where the eventual scoreline (3-0) looked more like a soccer endgame tally than that of cricket.
India eventually won the bowl-out with Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, and Robin Uthappa hitting bulls-eye even as their counterparts missed the stumps by a country mile. After restricting India to 9-141 in 20 overs, the Men in Green, despite losing wickets at regular intervals, looked prime to overhauling the target with Misbah Ul Haq holding together their run-chase.
But, there was something with Misbah, final over, low-scoring potboilers and India. Every time he was faced with that situation, he threatened to be Pakistan’s hero for the longest time before eventually fizzling out in the end. He did that in the finals but that wasn’t the first time.
The first time it happened was in the league-stage fixture where after hammering Sreesanth for two boundaries in the first four balls, he failed to get a single of the remaining two deliveries and got run-out in the process paving way for an eventual tie and a subsequent Indian win.
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