How India lined up in their first ever T20I
On 1st December 2006, the Men in Blue played their first ever T20I game. The game was held at the Wanderers in Johannesburg against the Proteas, and was scheduled between the 4th and 5th ODI.
There wasn't much fuss related to the match as people were more concerned about winning a Test series in South Africa.
11 years ago, there were many misconceptions regarding the format as some experts thought that T20 cricket wasn't cricket at all, and many called it a "hit out or get out" sort of game. As T20s became popular with time, they were proved wrong, and the format won millions of hearts.
The match itself turned to be a low-scoring affair and the visitors won the game by 6 wickets, courtesy the heroics from Dinesh Karthik towards the end of the innings. It was the dawn of a new era in Indian cricket, and currently T20 is a major format as far as Indian cricket is concerned.
Here is how India lined up for that game:
#1 Virender Sehwag
Sehwag led the side in India's inaugural T20I game in the absence of regular skipper Rahul Dravid, who opted not to play the shortest format of the game. He took his team off to a sublime start, and played a vital knock of 34 runs, taking the attack to the bowlers quite early in the innings.
#2 Sachin Tendulkar
This game turned out to be the Master's first and last T20I game as he decided to give the youngsters an opportunity to make a name for themselves. He couldn't express himself with the bat, but to his credit, he contributed with an important wicket of Justin Kemp.