The first edition of the T20 World Cup, which was played way back in 2007, was incredibly exciting and it finally saw India lift the trophy by beating their arch rivals Pakistan by a very slight margin in the closest of encounters.
There were a lot of wonderful individual performances in the tournament from all the teams. Here is the best XI at the conclusion of the tournament
#1 Openers (Matthew Hayden, Gautam Gambhir)
Matthew Hayden and Gautam Gambhir were the top two run getters in the tournament and Gambhir was the highest scorer for India in the final match as well where he scored 75 runs and guided India to a total of 157 which proved to be sufficient at the end.
Hayden’s Australia couldn’t make it to the final, but the big southpaw batted with amazing consistency for the Kangaroos as he scored 265 runs in just 6 games at an average of 88.33 and a strike rate of 144.80.
#2 Middle order (Kevin Pietersen, Yuvraj Singh, Misbah ul Haq, MS Dhoni)
Kevin Pietersen and Yuvraj Singh were the two best middle order batsmen in the tournament just because of the impetus that they provided to their respective teams in the post powerplay period.
Both Pietersen and Yuvraj mostly batted at a time when the fielders were spread and there was a lot of protection for the bowlers in the deep, but they still found boundaries with spectacular ease. Pietersen’s strike rate in the tournament was 161, while Yuvraj’s strike rate was 194.
Misbah ul Haq rescued Pakistan out of trouble on quite a few occasions in the tournament including the final where he brought Pakistan within touching distance of victory before he played the scoop shot which he would always regret.
MS Dhoni did somewhat similar for India as well. When we talk about India’s triumph in T20 World Cup 2007, we mostly talk about the performances of Gambhir and Yuvraj, but Dhoni actually scored more runs than Yuvraj in the tournament.
#3 All-rounders (Shahid Afridi, Irfan Pathan)
Shahid Afridi couldn’t do much with the bat as he scored just 91 runs in 7 games with the highest score of 46, but he was in wonderful form with the ball.
Afridi registered the best figures among all the spinners in the tournament with 12 wickets in 7 games at an average of 15.66 and was eventually named the man of the tournament.
Irfan Pathan was the man of the match in the final against Pakistan as he bowled a match winning spell of 3 for 16 removing some of Pakistan’s most dangerous batsmen including Afridi as well. Pathan took a total of 10 wickets in the tournament in 7 games at an average of just 14.90.
#4 Bowlers (Daniel Vettori, Umar Gul, RP Singh)
Daniel Vettori’s economy rate was the best among all the bowlers who took 5 or more wickets in the tournament. The left arm spinner from New Zealand bowled extremely tight right through the tournament and went at the rate of less than a run a ball. Vettori got 11 wickets in 6 games at an economy rate of 5.33 per over.
Umar Gul finished as the highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 13 wickets in 7 games and he was another bowler along with Vettori who conceded lesser number of runs than the number of deliveries he bowled. Gul’s economy rate was 5.6 per over.
RP Singh was India’s best bowler and was at no. 3 in the overall wicket-taking list. RP, who bowled really well in the crunch moments of the final match, registered a total of 12 wickets to his name in 7 games at an average of 12.66 and an economy rate of 6.33 per over.
