I was blank when the ball went up in the air, Sreesanth recollects 2007 World T20 final
"In the airrrrr, Sreesanth takes it. India win," screamed Ravi Shastri in the commentary box at the Wanderers in Johannesburg when Misbah-ul-Haq's paddle scoop went straight into S Sreesanth's hands at short fine-leg. These are memories the Indian fans will cherish forever.
Recollecting the catch in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, Sreesanth said, "I was blank when the ball went up in the air. I was just praying that I don't drop the catch because it was very important and by God's grace I was the one who took the World Cup-winning catch.
"I am proud of what I did there and I am thankful to our captain for making me stand at short fine-leg. Also, credit has to be given to Joginder Sharma for bowling a slower one because it would have been a boundary otherwise."
A decade back, a young Indian team led by a rookie captain MS Dhoni created history when they won the inaugural World T20, beating arch-rivals Pakistan by five runs in the final.
Coming into the tournament as the dark horses, no one gave the Men in Blue a chance to go all the way as they didn't take T20s seriously and had played just one match prior to the tournament. But, they defied the odds and did the unthinkable, thanks to a collective team effort, led by skipper Dhoni.
With Pakistan needing 13 runs to win the tournament off the final over, Dhoni gave the ball to Joginder Sharma despite his lead spinner Harbhajan Singh still having an over left in his spell. The move almost backfired as Joginder bowled a wide and a full-toss that was hit straight over his head for a six. With six runs needed off four balls, Joginder bowled a slower one and Misbah tried to scoop it over the fine-leg fielder, a shot that had previously given him a lot of runs in the tournament.
But, unfortunately for him, the lack of pace turned out to be the game-changer as the ball went up in the air and Sreesanth at fine-leg completed an easy catch to win the tournament for India.
India became the first ever World T20 champions and Sreesanth admitted that the players wanted to give the fans something to cherish after failing to go far in the 2007 World Cup.
"God has been extremely kind and it is an honour to represent your country in anything. It was a team effort and I was lucky enough to be a part of the World Cup-winning team. We were like a family and MS Dhoni captained the team really well. The 2007 World Cup didn't go well for us and we wanted to make it up for it. Luckily, we managed to give something to the fans by winning the World T20," he added.
It has been 10 years since that match but the moment still remains fresh in the hearts of all the Indian fans.