On this day: India script history at Johannesburg, tackling demons of past and present

Fifteen years ago, it was on this very day that we witnessed a T20 revolution spinning into existence as a bunch of young rebellious Indians challenged the world in a craft that they had very rarely heard of. They came, they saw, they slipped, they fell, they struggled, they got back up on their feet, they looked their foe in the eyes, they braved insurmountable odds, they forged a tryst with destiny and eventually they conquered.

It was the day that marked the second meeting of two ancient arch-rivals in the maiden edition of the T20 World Cup and it was no longer a group stage fixture, it was the grand finale that would pen history for ages to come. It was the beginning of a magnificent era that saw countless changes to unfurl, new heroes to be born and former Goliaths being floored by unheralded Davids.

Under a bright sky, adorned by the fluttering banners of two teams not willing to spare an inch to each other, the two captains walked out to have a word with Lady Luck. MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to bat first. Much to India’s woes, they were without the big name of Virender Sehwag. An unlikely Yusuf Pathan made way for Viru and showed the world how a T20 opening should be done.

Despite the early onslaught, Pakistan managed to reel Pathan (15) back in as Mohammad Asif’s blistering pace was a bit too much to handle for the hard-swinging opener and he ended up holing out to a scurrying Shoaib Malik.

Robin Uthappa (8) came out in the middle but could offer very little as Sohail Tanvir struck in quick succession, opening up an unlikely window of gloom and despondency for the high-soaring Indians. An in-form Yuvraj Singh’s contributions were negligible to allay India’s fears as Umar Gul spared him from his misery with a catch off his own bowling for a paltry 14.

With wickets toppling consistently at one end, Gautam Gambhir helmed the ship sans any fear. Showing nerves of steel, he stitched together a string of exquisite strokes, tormenting the Pakistani bowlers at will. The opener helped India to reach 130 before Umar Gul who already had a phenomenal final until then, bagging the scalps of Yuvi and Dhoni previously, proved to be his undoing for a stellar 75.

As the Pakistani bowlers soared, hoping to leave India well short of an anticipated decent total, it was Rohit Sharma, who was just taking his baby steps in international cricket then, rocked Pakistan back with a blitzkrieg of his own, smashing an unbeaten 30 off just 16 balls.

India totted up 157 on the cards and with the way in which the pitch behaved, it felt for a while that Pakistan was not going to have it easy. They will have to fight for the total and the Indian contingent ensured that they did everything at their behest to heckle their counterparts.

Even before Pakistan could realise, what were they up against, India’s most successful quick in the tournament, RP Singh roared back to life as he produced an out-swinger that caught a whiff of Mohammad Hafeez’s (1) bat before Uthappa pouched a sitter to announce India’s intentions.

Just when Imran Nazir was busy wreaking havoc at the other end, RP Singh struck again with an inswinger this time that left Kamran Akmal (0) rooted to his spot and his stumps deracinated. India was pumped up already and irrespective of Pakistan’s intermittent bursts of runs, they made sure that the wickets arrived. Uthappa produced another ripper of a throw to run out Imran Nazir who was looking dangerous as he amassed 33 off just 14 balls.

Younis Khan (24) was the next to depart as Joginder Sharma struck before Irfan Pathan produced his magic to remove three of Pakistan’s best bets that also included the big name of Shahid Afridi who departed for a golden duck.

However, what initially seemed like a docile resignation from Pakistan would soon roar back to life and India will have to produce a lot more than just regulation deliveries to keep their continental neighbours at bay. Misbah-ul-Haq, the man responsible for ushering Pakistan to the bowl-out from a jeopardized state against India in the opener would once again stand between India and the silverware as he took the marauding Men in Blue head-on.

From a wobbling 77 for 6, he guided Pakistan to that final over where they needed 13 off 6 and with all the Indian bowlers bloodied and bruised, Dhoni resorted to an unthinkable gamble as he brought Joginder Sharma to bowl that last over.

With 13 needed, Sharma bowled a wide that needed a stinging enterprise from Dhoni to keep it down to 1. The following delivery was a dot as Joginder managed to hit the right spot this time, just outside the off-stump and inside the tramline. As the equation boiled down to 12 from 5, Misbah launched the Indian medium pacer over the long-off boundary for a colossal maximum as Pakistan was within touching distance of history and their dugout was up in celebration.

Just when it felt that India was down and out, Dhoni had a prolonged discussion with Sharma and very surprisingly brought the fine-leg fielder to the edge of the circle as if inviting Misbah for the scoop. Misbah did swallow the bait and the scoop that was attempted saw the ball go high up in the air, only to be pouched safely by Sreesanth.

In a moment of reckoning that dawned on the Indian fans a while later, the grand ascension had already happened. It was chaos, it was mayhem everywhere as the Indian youngsters had pulled off the unthinkable. Against the seasoned pros of Pakistan, India rode high on a youth rebellion to clinch the maiden T20 World Cup.

Joburg, that stayed witness to countless historical moments before had another chapter added to its gilded pantheon. In a moment of irony, it was South Africa again, who were defeated by the Men in Blue at Barbados to lift their second T20 World Cup, 17 years later.