The 2007 T20 World Cup started off in the most fascinating ways for India by beating Pakistan in the group stage in a Bowl-out, which they knew nothing about at that time. The match had ended in a tie after India’s 141-rum on the board was equalled by Pakistan and the match went for a bowl-out.
Prior to the super over the bowl out method was used to decide a winner, if the match ended in a draw. In a bowl out, five bowlers from each side deliver one or two balls each at an unguarded wicket. If each team has hit the same number of wickets after the first five bowlers per side, the bowling continues and is decided by sudden death.
During The Bowl-Out, There Was No Competition: Irfan Pathan
Former Team India bowling all-rounder Irfan Pathan has revealed that the Pakistani cricket team had no idea of what a bowl out was, on the other hand, team India was well prepared for it. They were so confused they didn’t even know if they should take full or half run-ups, said Irfan Pathan.
“Pakistan’s captain accepted it in one of the press conferences that they didn’t know about the bowl-out,” Pathan said in Star Sports’ special episode of Cricket Connected chat show named ‘Watch Along of the 2007 ICC World T20 between India and Pakistan’.
“When the time for bowl-out arrived, they were not sure if they should be taking full run-ups or a half run-ups. On the other hand, we came in prepared for the bowl-out and the result was quite evident,”.
“There was no competition between the two teams. When the regulation match was going on, there was a fierce competition between both the teams, and it was a close affair. But during the bowl-out, there was no competition,” Irfan Pathan added
Recounting the 2007 T20 World Cup
The 2007 ICC T20 world cup was hosted in South Africa and was the maiden T20 World cup. Team India went on to win it beating Pakistan by 5 runs. India had also beaten Pakistan in the group stage in a bowl out after a tie. Gautam Gambhir scored 75 runs as India put a score of 157-5. The other Indian batsmen fell cheaply, with Rohit Sharma the second-highest scorer, reaching 30 not out.
Misbah-ul-Haq was the top scorer for Pakistan with 43 runs as they neared the Indian total, but wickets fell quickly as R P Singh took 3-26 and Irfan Pathan took 3-16 to set up a tense finish. Pakistan were bowled out in the final over, five runs short of India.