Misbah-ul-Haq: Memories of the shot in the 2007 World Twenty20 final against India that no one forgot

Misbah-ul-Haq was sitting on the pitch in a state of despair, kneeling on the bat, unaware of the environment around him, and perhaps wondering how the shot on which he never got out came to be today.

Two different conditions could easily be felt at Wanderers Stadium at that time.

It was September 24, 2007, and the first ICC World Twenty20 final in the world of cricket was between Pakistan and India. Maybe there was no bigger stage.

It is difficult to describe in words the excitement of the spectators on both sides who reached their climax in their last over.

In such a situation, medium-pacer Joginder Sharma stood on his run-up to get the last over. It was a surprise for most of the fans to get this over. The Pakistani team was just 13 runs away from victory and there was a glimmer of hope in the form of Misbah-ul-Haq.

It was Misbah-ul-Haq who brought the Pakistan team to the last over, batting responsibly and chasing 158 runs.

Joginder Sharma's first ball went wide. No run was made on the next ball but on the next ball Misbah-ul-Haq hit a six towards the site screen with a powerful shot.

Thus, the Pakistani team needed only six runs off four balls.

Coach Jeff Lawson and the Pakistani players in the dugout could see the victory, but who could have imagined that this victory would turn into a defeat.

Then on the third ball, something unexpected happened. Misbah-ul-Haq played a paddle sweep shot on Sharma's ball but the ball went into the hands of Shri Shant, who was standing in the short fine league instead of the boundary and India won the match by five runs.

Today, 14 years have passed since this match, but none of the players of the Pakistani team who played that match and perhaps no fan of cricket in Pakistan and India has forgotten this special moment, and for Misbah-ul-Haq, it was easily forgotten. It is very difficult to give.

Speaking to BBC Urdu, Misbah-ul-Haq has commented on all the moments of the match that have questions in the minds of cricket fans.

Misbah says that the disappointment over this defeat was before and still is and will remain because the real thing wins no matter how hard you try. Feelings are different when you cross this line.

Misbah-ul-Haq, while expressing his frustration, also says that he is not one of those who have lived in the past.

"I was very disappointed because you don't want all your hard work to go to waste," he said. I brought the match to the point where I knew it was in our hands, and it would have been very sad if it got out of hand. "

"You can't live in the past all your life. What's gone is gone. It's a pity, but it's important to get out of the way and move on. "

"I've never been out on a pedal sweep shot."

This shot is dead in the history of cricket. In the world of cricket, this shot was rarely played anyway, but Misbah tells a different story of his passion with this shot.

"People still say I made a mistake by playing that shot, but that's not the case," he said. I had never been out on a pedal sweep shot before. That was my shot. "

Misbah had played this shot many times in the same World Cup. "If Fielder had been behind in the Fine League, he would have taken a single from the same shot, as I did in the match against Australia," he said.

Misbah-ul-Haq says, "I was thinking of scoring five runs for the draw, so I will score four runs by playing over the wicketkeeper."

"After that, if they put the fielder behind, I can take a single and if they bring the fielder up, I will take the ball from the top.

"I still think it was my best shot, but it wasn't successful at the time," he says.

"It wouldn't be the turn until the last over if ..."

To sum up this match, India won the toss and elected to bat first and scored 157 runs in 20 overs. Gotham Gambhir top-scored for India with 75 runs. Pakistan's Umar Gul took three wickets.

Pakistan lost Mohammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal at the start of the innings but semi-final hero Imran Nazir remained aggressive. Then Imran Nazir was run out and the format of the match changed.

At one point, Pakistan had lost six wickets for 77 runs and then Misbah came to the crease and brought the match to the position that 13 runs were needed in the last over.

Misbah-ul-Haq says, "Today when we remember this match, everyone remembers the last over in which I was out, although there were many important moments in this match that no one thought of at that time." Yes, but later you think that if these things were fixed then the situation would be different.

Misbah-ul-Haq recalls that Imran Nazir was run out who had scored 33 runs off just 14 balls. In the semi-finals, he scored an aggressive half-century.

Falling wickets at the wrong time. Shahid Afridi was out on the first ball. Sohail Tanveer got bowled after hitting two sixes but despite all this, I was very hopeful at that time that 13 runs would be made in the last over.

Misbah-ul-Haq says, "You can call him overconfident that I let the ball come too close, which caused the shot to go up instead of going away."

'Guilty in the eyes of the people

Misbah played this shot, but this moment went down in the hearts of cricket fans in Pakistan forever. He was often criticized, some said the shot should not have been played and some said the winning match was lost.

Misbah-ul-Haq is also well aware of this criticism. "The whole team was disappointed to lose the match. I was so sad that we couldn't win even after coming so close," he said.

On this occasion, Misbah-ul-Haq was encouraged by his teammates in the dugout and then in the dressing room. "Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Dr Naseem Ashraf was also there at the time. He also told me that you did your best, no matter what happens in the game," he said.

Misbah-ul-Haq says, "Your fellow cricketers are understanding your state of mind but there are usually very few people who understand such a situation."

"Most people blame you," he says. No one thinks that this match was not yours. People think he lost the match. They don't think about how this match got to this stage. '

Misbah-ul-Haq says, "Even after such a long time, some people still say that it was a straight six, so what was the need for this shot."

Couldn't I have been caught on long on and long off by playing straight shot? When you are batting, there is an internal battle going on inside you as well as the bowler.

When Dhoni told Joginder Sharma, "No need to panic."

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has often been asked why he gave the last over to Joginder Sharma when Harbhajan Singh had one over left.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is often known for many such masterstrokes and early in his captaincy, he made his mark in the world of cricket as a wise captain by playing these masterstrokes.

Explaining the reason for his decision, Mahendra Singh Dhoni said, "Misbah-ul-Haq hit three sixes in Harbhajan Singh's third over and I knew very well that Misbah-ul-Haq plays spinners very well."

"I saw Misbah-ul-Haq's ability to bat aggressively against spin bowlers when Pakistan A India A and Kenya played a series in Nairobi, so I had the option of getting the last over from a medium pacer."

An interesting thing about Joginder Sharma's last over is that Shri Shant says that many people will not know that 'Joginder Sharma himself had told Mahendra Singh Dhoni that he wanted the last over. He was saying let me the bowl, let me a bowl. '

Recalling his last over, Joginder Sharma said, "Despite Misbah's six in the last over, I was sure I could get him out. Earlier in the semi-final against Australia, I also bowled the last over and took two wickets.

"Dhoni had full confidence in me and he reassured me that there was no need to panic."

"My first ball was wide but it was very swinging," says Joginder Sharma. Our plan was to do a yorker off stump.

"When I jumped to bowl the third ball, Misbah-ul-Haq had prepared himself for a paddle sweep, on which I also changed myself and bowled a slow ball because if I had bowled with normal speed, maybe He would have been square from above.

Misbah-ul-Haq came close to winning the group match and was run out

In the same World T20, Pakistan and India also competed in the group match. The match was equally thrilling and was eventually tied, after which India won the 'Bowl Out'.

Misbah-ul-Haq recalls the match, saying that Durban's wicket was not easy on which India scored a good 141 for nine. We also had to work hard for runs.

Yasser Arafat was playing on the crease with Misbah and needed 29 runs in the last two overs and 12 runs in the last over.

Misbah says, "I hit two fours in Shri Shant's last over. I remember the fifth ball was short of length which I tried to cut, the ball went to the wicket keeper but Yasser Arafat almost ran to me and escaped being run out.

"I was sure I would make a run on the last ball but my shot went straight to the cover position. The fielder's throw came towards the bowler and I was run out.

"The T20 format was not new to us."

In the short span of two and a half years before the ICC World Twenty20 in 2007, various Test nations had played nominal T20 matches, which can be gauged from the fact that India only One T20 International match was played while Pakistan played five matches.

Misbah-ul-Haq says, "This format was certainly new to the world, but it was not new to us at all because the foundation of our club cricket has been based on twenty-over matches." Whether it was a normal day or the month of Ramadan, twenty-over matches were common.

Giving his example, Misbah-ul-Haq says that T20 cricket in Ramadan used to be the best entertainment for the fans in which the players used to play two matches a day in a state of fasting and because of this cricket we compete with other countries. I was much closer to this format.

"Playing this cricket gave our batsmen the ability to hit sixes which later came in handy in international cricket."

According to Misbah-ul-Haq, the introduction of T20 International was very good for us as it was nothing new for us and it benefited us as our bowlers were well versed in the art of yorker and slow ball.

At that time our players were ready for T20. There was a lot of excitement among our players for the T20 World Cup. Our camp was in Abbottabad and it was very well prepared and at that time the Pakistani team was one of the best in the T20 format.