WATCH: ‘We proved you wrong’ – Dhoni mocks Shastri after 2007 T20 World Cup semifinal win
India announced their 15-man squad for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup on Wednesday. There were some surprise recalls and some notable omissions as well.
While Ravichandran Ashwin earned a recall into the T20I side after four years, left-arm spinner Axar Patel has also been picked in the squad on the basis of his good IPL performance in the UAE last year. The T20 World Cup is going to be played in the UAE, where the wickets are on the drier side and boundaries are longer. That sums up why they have picked a total of five spinners in the squad.
The highlight of the squad announcement was the exclusion of veteran batsman Shikhar Dhawan and the spin-bowling duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav. However, these inclusions and omissions were not the only talking points of the announcement. There was another update that made more buzz and that was MS Dhoni’s appointment as the mentor of the Indian side for the duration of the mega event.
It has been more than a year since Dhoni called time on his international career. He led India to their first and only T20 World Cup title till date during the inaugural edition in 2007.
The Dhoni-led side had started the tournament as underdogs but they went on to take down some major powerhouses on their way to the title. One such team was Australia, whom they met in the semifinals.
It was Yuvraj Singh’s whirlwind knock of 70 that powered India to a total of 188/5. The Aussies eventually could manage only 173/7 in their full quota of overs and were knocked out of the World Cup.
Prior to the match, Ravi Shastri — Present-day head coach of India — had written a column on ESPNcricinfo and had mentioned Australia as the firm favourites to win the match.
However, MS Dhoni and Co. proved him wrong and registered a delightful victory. During the post-match presentation, Dhoni brought up the same topic and told Shastri directly that he had read his column but now they had ‘proved him wrong’. But he also said respectfully that he is sure that Shastri is ‘happier’ than them.
Watch the entire video involving MS Dhoni and Ravi Shastri here:
This was one of the best moments from the the 2007 T20 WC.Ravi Shastri had written a piece before the SF that Australia were favourites. MSD said in the post match presentation that “Me & my boys, we’ve proved you wrong & I think you’re happier than us.” pic.twitter.com/LeAQS40UjO
— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) September 9, 2021
India are yet to win the T20 World Cup since then. They reached the semifinals of the 2016 edition but were knocked out by West Indies eventually. India also haven’t won any ICC Trophy since their Champions Trophy victory in 2013 and they will be eager to end that drought in this tournament.