Former India skipper MS Dhoni finally revealed the key reason why non-regular bowlers were picked ahead of regular ones for the ‘bowl out’ against Pakistan during the 2007 T20 World Cup.
The ‘bowl outs’ feature was introduced in ICC tournaments for the first time. The Men In Blue's first match against their arch-rivals Pakistan in the T20 WC had the score tied at 141 runs after the respective 20 overs, resulting in the match going into a tiebreaker i.e. ‘bowl outs’.
While India decided to go with Robin Uthappa, Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh as their three spin bowlers. Pakistan opted for Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi as their three bowlers.
Even though it was a 5-per-side contest, the Indian bowlers gave their side a 3-0 lead and the result was announced instantly after the Pakistan bowlers failed to hit the target during their turn.
The then captain of the side Dhoni has now revealed that his side already practiced for the bowl outs before and after their training sessions.
“We used to begin or end our practices with the bowl-outs. It was the first time such a thing was going to be used. While it used to be fun, we decided that the players who hit the stumps the most number of times in the net sessions will be used in the bowl-outs when the situation arises. We did not pick our regular bowlers but we picked those who gave us the best results. But we were prepared for it. Just like how we were prepared for the World T20,” MS Dhoni said.
'Mahi' also expressed his thoughts on how it is impossible for one player to keep contributing for the team throughout a tournament, its a team game and the entire Squad needs to deliver the goods whenever required.
“I believe that only a few individuals cannot deliver for the team and that every individual of the team should contribute - and that is the reason we won in 2007. A good run-out, an outstanding catch - such moments is evidence of teamwork and contributions of every individual of the team,” he said.
