India won the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup on September 24, 2007, by getting the better of Pakistan by five runs in Johannesburg. (Picture Credit: AP)
On the 17th anniversary of India’s 2007 T20 World Cup title win, here’s a look at two cricketers who never played for India again after winning the inaugural edition of the shortest format megaevent.
India is celebrating the 17th anniversary of the 2007 T20 World Cup title win on Tuesday (September 24). On this day, 17 years ago, India managed to get the better of archrivals Pakistan by five runs in the final of the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup played at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. Indian skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to bat first, after which, riding on Gautam Gambhir’s 75, India posted a total of 157 runs on the board for the loss of five wickets in 20 overs. Apart from Gambhir, Rohit Sharma contributed 30 runs from 16 balls.
In reply to the 158-run target, Pakistan could only manage to score 152 runs for the loss of 10 wickets in 19.3 overs. Player of the Match Irfan Pathan and RP Singh picked up three wickets each for India, and two Pakistani batters were sent back to the pavilion by Joginder Sharma, who also bowled the final over of the match.
In the summit clash, Joginder dismissed Misbah-ul-Haq on the third ball of the last over to seal a famous win for the Men in Blue. But do you know that the final also turned out to be the last match for him as an Indian cricketer? The Haryana-based cricketer never played for India after that match and finished his career with 35 runs in four ODIs and four wickets in four T20Is.
Apart from Joginder, there was one more player who was part of the 2007 T20 World Cup-winning squad but never played for Team India after that tournament. That cricketer is none other than India’s current chief selector, Ajit Agarkar.
The Mumbai-based cricketer, who made his international debut for India during an ODI match against Australia in Kochi on April 1, 1998, last played for India on September 16, 2007. His last match was against New Zealand in Johannesburg, which India lost by 10 runs. In that match he conceded 40 runs in four overs and was not able to take any wicket as well.
He didn’t get a chance to play in the next four matches, and then after that tournament, he never played for India again. Agarkar finished his career with 288 and 58 wickets in 191 ODIs and 26 Tests, respectively. He also scored 571 runs in Tests and 1269 runs in ODIs.
