'I have to give MS Dhoni credit at that point of time'- Robin Uthappa talks about the success of 2007 T20 World Cup

Every clash between India and Pakistan is unique because it is defined by some of the most competitive and nail-biting moments. It is not just about the game, but the whole lot of emotions that come into play. Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar’s six at Centurion or being dropped four times in semi-finals in 2011 and not to forget, the only bowl-out in course of international cricket in 2007.

The group stage encounter between India and Pakistan at 2007 T20 World Cup is remembered for the epic bowl-out at the end. Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan revealed that Pakistan wasn’t prepared for it at all. He said how Shoaib Malik, the Pakistan skipper, told how his team wasn’t aware of what to do in the bowl-out.

In a special show ‘Watch Along’ relating that match on Star Sports Network and Disney+Hotstar, Irfan said: “Pakistan’s captain accepted it in one of the press conferences that they didn’t know about the bowl-out… they were not sure if they should be taking full run-ups or a half run-ups. On the other hand, we came in prepared for the bowl-out and the result was quite evident.”

Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Robin Uthappa remained successful in hitting the stumps while Pakistan’s Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi couldn’t taste success. Following this, India won the epic bowl-out 3-0.

Robin Uthappa talks about the India’s well prepared plan

“Before every practice, we used to play a game after warm-up, so what Venky (Venkatesh Prasad) did was instead of playing football, he said let’s play bowl out (batsman vs bowlers). Among the batsmen, Sehwag, Rohit and me (Robin Uthappa) used to get a hit very often,” Uthappa told on Star Sports’ show Cricket Connected.

The main deal unfolded when Sreesanth defended one run off the last two deliveries that pushed the game into the space where it remained the source of pure excitement till the very end. Uthappa, who scored a 39-ball 50 in that game, praised the then new captain, MS Dhoni.

“I have to give credit to MS Dhoni at that point of time. At a very young age in his first tournament and his first game as captain, a guy went up to him, his teammate went up to him saying, who is a non-bowler and is not his main skill, went up to him and said, ‘I have to bowl and I am going to hit the stumps,’ and I swear he (Dhoni) didn’t even bat an eyelid and said, ‘ok bowl.’”

The splendid spectacle gave MS Dhoni the chance to lift his first of many trophies. In the final at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, India beat Pakistan by five wickets and Irfan became the Player of the Match.