Pakistan had no clue about bowl-outs in 2007 T20 World Cup, states Irfan Pathan
Irfan Pathan was part of the memorable night-out for the Indian team
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Irfan Pathan has stated that Pakistan, during their group-stage encounter against India, had no clue about the bowl-outs in the 2007 T20 World Cup. On the other hand, Pathan recalled how India were well-prepared for the bowl-out, with Venkatesh Prasad coaching the bowling unit in the tournament.
In 2007, arch-rivals India and Pakistan could not be separated in the 10th match of the group stage after 40 overs. Both sides ended up on 141 each, as Sreesanth defended one run off two balls to take the game to extra-time. For the first time in the competition, the two sides met each other in a round of bowl-outs. While Pakistan opted to go in with all their premier bowlers, India stacked up their part-time bowlers to do the job on the night at Durban.Ā
Part of the memorable finish, former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan stated that Pakistan had no clue about the decider-format in the 2007 tournament. Pakistanās trio of Yasir Arafat, Shahid Afridi, and Umar Gul could not hit the target, as India won the contest 3-0. For India, opener Virender Sehwag, Robin Uthappa, and Harbhajan Singh all hit the target, completing a memorable turnaround in Durban.Ā Ā
"Pakistan's captain accepted it in one of the press conferences that they didn't know about the bowl-out," Irfan said on a special Watch Along of the 2007 ICC World T20 between India and Pakistan on Star Sports network.
On top of that, Pathan also exposed how the Pakistani bowlers were in a bout of confusion, whether to take full run-ups or a half run-up. In the end, all the bowlers did take a full run-up and eventually, all of them missed the target.Ā
"When the time for bowl-out arrived, 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. There was no competition between the two teams," he added.
