First T20 World Cup: MS Dhoni’s India inaugural champions and why Yuvraj Singh was special

T20s have become a staple of world cricket and the ICC T20 World Cup is considered the most prestigious trophy in this format of the sport.

Besides a few exceptions, the T20 World Cup has been held every two years and it first got underway as the ICC World T20 in South Africa in 2007.

First T20 World Cup: Prelude

In T20 cricket, an innings lasts 20 overs. A bowler can bowl a maximum of four overs and powerplay only lasts till the first six overs.

The first T20 International match was played between Australia and New Zealand on February 17, 2005. The game, played in a light-hearted manner at Eden Park in Auckland, was won by Australia.

Seeing the growing popularity of the format, the emergence of domestic T20 competitions, as well as its financial benefits, the International Cricket Council (ICC) decided to organise the T20 Cricket World Cup or ICC World T20.

The tournament is held every two years, except in the event of an ODI Cricket World Cup being scheduled in the same year.

Who won the first T20 World Cup

Twelve teams took part in the inaugural T20 World Cup held across three venues in South Africa - Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban - in 2007.

It was the MS Dhoni-led Indian men’s cricket team, who won the first T20 World Cup, defeating Pakistan in the final.

All the 10 Test-playing nations at the time took part in the inaugural World T20 while the finalists of the 2007 World Cricket League Division One tournament - Kenya and Scotland - also qualified for the 13-day competition.

The teams were drawn into four groups of three sides each and the top two teams from each group made it to the Super 8 stage.

India were placed alongside arch-rivals Pakistan and Scotland in Group D. The Men in Blue topped the group to progress to the Super 8s, where eight teams were drawn into another two groups. The top two sides in each group would go through to the semi-finals.

The Indian men’s cricket team lost its opening Super 8 match against New Zealand but came roaring back with a historic win over England, propelled by the iconic six-sixes-in-an-over knock by Yuvraj Singh. The bowler to suffer was English pacer Stuart Broad.

The southpaw Yuvraj scored the fastest half-century in T20I cricket at the time in just 12 balls. India then beat hosts South Africa in their final Super 8 match to advance to the top four.

Yuvraj Singh played a pivotal role once again in the semi-finals against Australia to book India’s tickets to the final against Pakistan.

India defeated their neighbours by five runs at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg to win the first T20 World Cup. Batting first, India scored 157/5 thanks to Gautam Gambhir’s 75 (54 balls).

Irfan Pathan was awarded the Player of the Match after registering a spell of 3/16 while captain MS Dhoni’s decision to give the final over to Joginder Sharma was lauded by many. Joginder took the wicket of Misbah-ul-Haq in the last over to secure India’s victory.

Australia’s Matthew Hayden finished as the leading run-scorer in the 2007 T20 World Cup with 265 and Umar Gul was the highest wicket-taker with 13 wickets. Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi was adjudged as the Player of the Tournament.

First Women’s T20 World Cup

Following the success of the inaugural men’s variant, the first ICC Women’s T20 World Cup was held in June 2009 with England playing hosts. Eight teams competed in the tournament and they were split into two groups of four.

All the group stage games were played at the County Ground in Taunton while the semi-finals were held at Trent Bridge and The Oval. In the final, held at Lord’s in London, England became the first Women’s T20 World Cup champions on home soil after defeating New Zealand by six wickets.

England’s Claire Taylor was the Player of the Series while their bowler Holly Colvin finished as the highest wicket-taker with nine scalps in five games. Aimee Watkins of New Zealand was the leading run-scorer with 200 runs.