Wednesday (September 14) evening saw another star of the famous 2007 T20 World Cup drop curtains on his career as Robin Uthappa called time on a successful stint with Team India. Now the former star of Indian cricket, he had a great time with the Indian team before he decided to say goodbye. One such incident took place in the 2007 T20 World Cup.
While the Indian team is preparing for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia to end its trophy drought, Robin Uthappa will have good memories of the day. Exactly, 15 years ago Uthappa and a young Team India led by MS Dhoni won the only ball-out in T20 history against arch-rivals Pakistan in Durban.
Having played only a handful of T20 matches, Team India entered the 2007 T20 World Cup on the back of a disappointing ODI triumph in the West Indies. On a cold night in Durban, India put only 141 runs on board against Pakistan.
After a nail-biting finish to the contest, the match went into ball-out and surprisingly, Uthappa who had been a batting hero just a week before in England was a bowling sensation.
“I remember after we tied that game, we went to the dressing room and got to know that it’s a ‘bowl out’, I went straight to MS (Dhoni), and I said- ‘Bro, I’ve to bowl,’ and he didn’t even bat an eyelid. He just said yeah, ok, you’ll bowl.
"And for me when I look back at it in retrospect makes me understand the kind of leader he was.
"He is the kind of guy when you’re really sure about your skills and your own ability, he backs it. And he backed it in his first game as captain,” Uthappa said.
As they say, the rest is history, India would beat Pakistan in the group stage in ball-out, while later going on to win the whole thing on September, 24 in Johannesburg. The date 14 September will go down as a special occasion for Uthappa as he won a World Cup match with the ball and announced his retirement.
