5 catches that changed Indian cricket forever

#4 S. Sreesanth vs. Pakistan (2007)

Sreesanth's catch helped India win the World T20 in 2007

2007 was a mixed bag of a year for both the fierce South Asian rivals, India and Pakistan. Both the neighbours had crashed out of the 2007 Cricket World Cup in the very first round of the tournament. However, a couple of months later it was the ‘Men in Blue’ and the ‘Men in Green’ who had booked the final two spots in order to battle it out for the ultimate glory in the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup in South Africa.

Propelled by Gautam Gambhir’s 54-ball 75, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men had put on 157 runs on the board after their captain won the toss. In reply, Pakistan who had lost the early wickets of Mohammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal soon steadied their ship, scoring runs at a consistent rate. Though they were losing wickets at a pretty regular interval, it seemed that Misbah-ul-Haq would successfully steer them over the final hurdle.

Come the final over and Pakistan needed 13 runs to win the coveted trophy. However, the Pakistanis just had a single wicket in hand. After a wide first ball, Misbah went on to completely miss the second Joginder Sharma delivery. However, the second legitimate ball of the over was belted over long-off for a massive six. Now with six to win off the final three deliveries, Misbah tried to scoop one over the deep fine leg and S. Sreesanth completed the catch.

The catch- in many ways- was a turning point in the contemporary history of Indian cricket.