Published: Feb 04, 2023, 10:32 AM (IST)
Edited: Feb 04, 2023, 10:59 AM (IST)
New Delhi: MS Dhoni is hailed as one of the greatest cricket captains of all time. In his very first assignment as captain, the former captain of India had led a relatively young team to victory at the inaugural T20 World Cup. After that, he led India to victories in the 2011 ODI World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy.
However, years after India’s T20 World Cup victory, former pacer RP Singh made a significant revelation about Dhoni’s “miscalculation” in the game. Rudra Pratap Singh was a member of the winning team and even grabbed three wickets in the final against Pakistan.
When Misbah-ul-Haq was playing a crucial knock for Pakistan, the Indian captain made an unexpected decision by awarding Joginder Sharma the final over of the match. However, Joginder delivered on the captain’s promise and helped India win by five runs. According to RP Singh, there was a choice between Harbhajan and Joginder, and the miscalculation was caused by the former’s pricey figures.
“Dhoni used to believe that 20th over isn’t as important as the 17th, 18th, and 19th. Misbah was playing really good that time. Harbhajan usually used to bowl the 17th over and more often than not, get us a breakthrough there. But Misbah was in some different touch that day. So there, it was a miscalculation,” RP Singh said during his commentary at the SA20 league.
“Harbhajan couldn’t complete his overs. I had to bowl the 19th over, Sreesanth had to bowl before me. We had two options, either go with Harbhajan or Joginder. Misbah was batting good and if it was a left-handed batter, then Harbhajan would’ve bowled the final over. Since it was a right-handed batter, Joginder was given the ball,” RP Singh added.
