'I have seen him drop absolute sitters' - Robin Uthappa recalls Sreesanth's catch that won India 2007 T20 World Cup

Back in 2007, when the inaugural T20 World Cup took place, no one had given India a chance. Firstly, the team was still reviving after their group stage elimination at the 50 overs World Cup, which happened just months back. Secondly, they had a new captain and the senior players weren’t around. And lastly, the team had played only one T20I before that.

However, India shocked everyone by winning that trophy. It was a fairytale story for an Indian fan. The MS Dhoni-led team beat Pakistan in the final by just five runs. It is still a question – why did Misbah-ul-Haq try to play the scoop shot with his side needing just six runs from four balls? However, the man who took the catch, S Sreesanth registered himself in the history books forever. His teammate from the World Cup-winning side, Robin Uthappa opened up recently about the catch.

Talking about the last stages of the famous match, the right-handed batsman said that he kept praying after the 15th over for a victory. Uthappa revealed that even when Misbah hit the second ball for a six during the last over, he was still backing his team to get through with a win.

Nothing but destiny won us that World Cup: Robin Uthappa

“At the beginning of the over, I was at long-on. I remember Jogi bowling a wide on the first ball and I was like ‘man!’ I was praying. Every ball, from 15th over onwards, I was just praying ‘just get us through’. He bowled a wide first ball, and I was like ‘okay, let it not go for a six now’. Then he got hit for a six. And I was like, ‘come on, we can still do this’. Even in that situation, Pakistan had all the momentum going their way, I was backing our team,” Uthappa said during BBC’s Doosra Podcast.

Recalling the famous catch by Sreesanth, the Rajasthan Royals batsman said that the fast-bowler was known to drop some catches during the training sessions. He explained that he has seen the pacer drop some really easy catches.

“Misbah hit a scoop shot, and I saw it going pretty high. I noticed that it wasn’t going really far. Then I saw who the fielder at short fine-leg was, and I saw it was Sreesanth. By that point, within the team, he was known for dropping catches, especially the easiest ones. I have seen him drop absolute sitters,” Uthappa further said.

The batsman, who plays for Kerala now, also said that the pacer just somehow managed to hold on to the ball. He pointed out that Sree was still looking up when he caught the ball. In the end, he also revealed that it was destiny that won them the trophy.

“As soon as I saw Sreesanth, I started running towards the wickets, and I started praying ‘please god, let him hold on to this one’. If you look at him taking that catch, you can see that when the ball actually entered his hands, he is looking up there (laughs). So, I still truly believe it was nothing but destiny that won us that World Cup,” he added.