Cricket Classics - Part XXVii : 2007 World Cup – Bangladesh vs India

damithudaya (77)member🏏in The World of Sports • 22 days ago

Hello, fellow Sports Enthusiasts,

Cricket is not just a sport between two teams; it's a battle of skills, strategy, and capitalizing on clutch moments. Although the game has transformed over the decades, it has never failed to impress or leave us with unforgettable moments.

So, through this series, I will present some of the most iconic cricket matches that have made fans jump out of their seats. Let's remember those legendary games once a week. I am with another iconic match.

Made by leonardo.ai

2007 Cricket World Cup, which was held in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April, was one of the most beautiful and dramatic ICC major tournaments. In beautiful venues, and with 16 teams, it had a different vibe, and it was my first tournament, which I understood and enjoyed. Australia won the tournament, defeating Sri Lanka in a dramatic final.

Anyway, today I am going to present to you one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history, where Bangladesh stunned the World Cricket defeating the Indians. With that result, unexpectedly, India had to exit from the Group stage, and Bangladesh moved to the Super Eight.

The Indian team was led by Rahul Dravid, with legendary players at the time like Tendulkar, Ganguly, Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Dhoni, etc. Habibul Bashar captained the Bangladesh team, with some key players like Mohammad Ashraful, Mashrafe Mortaza, and many youngsters like Abdur Razzak, Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, and Mushfiqur Rahim etc. When you see the Indian experienced lineup at the time, many bet that it was an easy win for India.

It was the 8th match of the tournament, and the second match of Group B. Everything was set at Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, on March 17, 2007. India won the toss and elected to bat.

Ganguly and Sehwag started the batting, but Bangladesh’s bowlers attacked early. Especially, Mashrafe Mortaza took Shewag and Uthappa in his first few overs. Spinners Abdur Razzak and Mohammad Rafique helped from the other side, not only restricting runs flow, but also taking regular wickets.

In this amazing batting lineup, only Ganguly and Yuvraj played noticeable innings, and six others fell under double digits. So, after all, India could only score 191 runs. Martaza took four wickets for 38 runs.

Bangladesh came to bat with their heads up and big hopes. Zaheer Khan took Shahriar Nafees for just 2 runs. But there were three players who just started their careers, and carried Bangladesh for another 15+ years. Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, and Mushfiqur Rahim. All three scored fifties and guided the team to a famous victory.

Tamim, coming as the opener, played a quick inning with 7 fours and two sixes, setting the foundation. So, the other two played sensible innings with the required run-rate. So, with that effort, they won the match by 5 wickets, and 9 balls remaining.

According to the sources, this victory caused immense celebration in Bangladesh, which resulted in an emergency situation in the country. Anyway, it's indeed a time of celebration for Bangladesh as underdogs, and they showed their capacity.

With that, Bangladesh advanced to the Super Eight alongside Sri Lanka, kicking out India early. That's why this is considered one of the biggest turnarounds in the ICC tournaments. Amazing performance by the Tigers.