Beating Australia was a big boost for us to win the 2007 World T20, admits Yuvraj Singh
Recalling the 2007 World T20 win, Yuvraj Singh has admitted that beating Australia was a real indicator and boost for the young side to win the tournament. Alongside that, Yuvraj also expressed that he was expecting to lead the side in the World T20 before selectors appointed Dhoni as the skipper.
After the lows of the first-round exit in the 2007 World Cup, the young Indian team under the leadership of MS Dhoni had a real opportunity to showcase their skills against the best teams in the world, in the shortest format. While there were talks of who would lead the side, Yuvraj Singh or Dhoni, the selectors decided to place their trust in the latter, a decision that would transform Indian cricket.Â
Yuvraj, recalling the tournament in the 22 Yarns podcast with Gaurav Kapur, admitted that beating Australia was a big boost and the biggest indicator that the young side could clinch the 2007 World T20, ahead of the other teams.Â
âDefinitely, it was an amazing achievement from a young batch, Australian side were a full side, they were one of the best teams. Australia were cruising, our bowlers brought the game back, it was a close game. Beating Australia gave us a big boost that we could win the tournament against any team,â Yuvraj told on the 22 Yarns podcast.
The southpaw also recalled how the discussions prior to the tournament went, with the senior players opting to take a rest during the tournament, which led to a young side being sent to South Africa. Yuvraj also stated that he was expecting the selectors to appoint him as the skipper of the side, which ultimately was handed to MS Dhoni.Â
âSo, basically, India had lost the 50-over World Cup, right? I mean there was quite a turmoil in Indian cricket and then there was a two-month tour of England and there was also a month tour in between with South Africa and Ireland. And then there was a month of T20 World Cup so there were like four months away from home.â
âSo probably the seniors thought that they need a break and obviously, nobody took the T20 World Cup seriously. I was expecting to captain India in the T20 World Cup and then it was announced MS Dhoni will be the captain,â he added.Â
However, Yuvraj cleared the air that there was no fight between the two and went on to state that the captain always got the full support of the squad, be it Rahul Dravid or Sourav Ganguly.Â
âYes, obviously, whoever becomes captain you got to support that guy whether it was Rahul, whether it was Ganguly, whoever in the future, end of the day you want to be a team man and thatâs how I was,â Yuvraj added.
Yuvrsaj also narrated a personal anecdote about his six sixes, with had caused a huge sensation in world cricket. The swashbuckling southpaw admitted that his first two looks after the six sixes were at Andrew Flintoff and Dimitri Mascarenhas.Â
âAfter six sixes, I gave the first look to Andrew Flintoff and the second to Dimitri Mascarenhas and never realised that I had actually scored six sixes. Only the five sixes that I conceded was in running on my mind.â
During the course of the tournament, Dhoni had made several uncanny calls, including handing the final over to the youngster Joginder Sharma in the final of the competition. Yuvraj stated that had Misbah-ul-Haq hit the ball towards the straight boundary, India would have perhaps finished second on the night. However, even with the sweep shot, the southpaw narrated the anxiety in the team, when the ball was in the air, towards Sreesanth.Â
âRight call to bowl Joginder Sharma, he bowled the last over well against Australia in the semi-final as well. I donât know what happened to Misbah, if he had hit the ball straight, it would have been a six but he went for the sweep. We were all scared, I was scared because Sreesanth wasnât the safest hand. I realised that we won the World Cup only after everyone started running.âÂ