Former India opener Virender Sehwag recently recounted the historic bowling match between India and Pakistan in the 2007 ICC World Twenty 20 Championship. During the group stage of the inaugural T20 World Cup, the two Asian giants were placed in Group D with Scotland. Both Asian powerhouses participated in a dramatic battle that resulted in a tie, with the outcome determined by the first-ever bowl-out in cricket history.
Both teams’ bowlers were given one chance to hit the stumps at the opposing end. Sehwag was among the Indian players that whacked the stumps during the bowl-out, along with Harbhajan Singh and Robin Uthappa. Pakistan, on the other hand, failed in all three of their tries, resulting in India winning the match. The Men in Blue made superb use of their resources in the bowl-out thanks to captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s selection of spinners.
Sehwag, who was a captain’s go-to bowler despite not being a specialist, was the first to take a shot at the stumps. The legendary former opener recently revealed the bowl-out strategy that he gave to MS Dhoni. He asked Dhoni not to utilise the bowlers in the bowl-out because they could have missed the target due to a lengthier run-up.
Sehwag said
“So the very first match ended up in a bowl-out. I told MS (Dhoni) that I’ll be going first. I said I will do it as I was confident of hitting. I said don’t give it to the bowlers. He asked why so? I said they’ll mess up with their run-up,” Sehwag said in the latest episode of Breakfast With Champions.
Sehwag also mentioned that they practised bowl-outs throughout the warm-up stage, which helped India win the first edition of the tournament against the arch-rivals.
“It happened since we all had practised in the warm-ups. So we got used to the bowl-out. I don’t know of the other teams,” he added further.
