Former Team India pacer Irfan Pathan recently disclosed how he and his teammates felt after the Cricket World Cup 2007 debacle. In the tournament played in the West Indies, India were in Group B alongside
Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bermuda. Avid cricket followers were expecting India and Sri Lanka to easily qualify for the next round but Bangladesh stunned the Men in Blue by beating the latter by five wickets in Port of Spain. After the loss in their opening match, the next two games for India became do-or-die contests. In their next match, India hammered Bermuda comfortably by 257 runs but in the final game of their group round, they failed to complete the chase of 255 against Sri Lanka, which eventually almost ended their chances of advancing to the next round.
Despite the loss to Sri Lanka, India stayed in Port of Spain for two days to witness the result of the game between Bermuda and Bangladesh. Recently, Pathan was interviewed on The Lallantop and he said that he and other members of Team India were shattered following both defeats. "We were in the hotel for two days. Aisa laga ke hum mar gaye (It felt as if we had died). Everybody had that feeling, and we were all very sad. Everyone was in shock," said Irfan on The Lallantop. With Bermuda’s seven-wicket loss against Bangladesh, India’s hopes for Super 8 got completely finished.
Following the infamous debacle, India won T20 World Cup 2007
After six months of the Cricket World Cup defeat, India scripted history under MS Dhoni's captaincy by winning the maiden edition of the T20 World Cup, held in South Africa. The Men in Blue beat Pakistan, Australia, England, and South Africa during their successful campaign.
Irfan Pathan played a crucial role in that success as he bagged 10 wickets in six innings of seven matches at an economy of 6.77. In the final against Pakistan in Johannesburg, the speedster recorded 3/16 figures after bowling four overs. His scintillating bowling performance also made him the Player of The Match (POTM).
