After Joginder Sharma's retirement, RP Singh discloses why MS Dhoni gave him the last over of 2007 T20 World Cup final
Joginder Sharma announced his retirement from all formats of cricket on Friday, February 3. His last appearance for India came in the T20 World Cup final against Pakistan, where he bowled the last over and helped the Men in Blue become world champions.
Captain MS Dhoni handed the ball to Joginder Sharma to defend 13 runs off the last six balls. Dhoni's decision raised a few eyebrows because the experienced Harbhajan Singh had one over left as well.
Explaining the thought process behind giving Joginder the 20th over, RP Singh said on SA20 commentary for Sports18 Khel:
"MS Dhoni always believed that 17th, 18th and 19th overs have more importance than 20th over. Normally, Harbhajan Singh would bowl the 17th over of the innings and even get the wicket for the team, but Misbah-ul-Haq was in a different mood that day, so a miscalculation happened, which is why we could not complete Harbhajan Singh's quota of four overs."
"I bowled the 19th over and before that Sreesanth bowled. We only had two options for the 20th over - Joginder Sharma or Harbhajan Singh. Misbah was batting well. If there was a left-handed batter, we would have gone with Harbhajan Singh, but since he was a right-handed batter, we went with Joginder Sharma because the probability was higher that he could stop Misbah," RP Singh concluded.
The good old days 😁
@rpsingh tells us all why @MJoginderSharma bowled that final over in the 2007 T20 World Cup final 🏏
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Misbah-ul-Haq's big-hitting against Harbhajan Singh prompted MS Dhoni to go with Joginder Sharma
Sharma had only played seven international matches in his career before the T20 World Cup 2007 final, which is why not many expected him to be chosen ahead of Harbhajan Singh to bowl the 20th over.
However, Misbah-ul-Haq smacked three sixes against Harbhajan in the 17th over of that innings. Besides, as RP Singh also pointed out, Misbah was a right-hander, which is why the team management made the right call by entrusting pace bowler Sharma with the responsibility rather than giving the ball to off-spinner Harbhajan.