T20 World Cup: Unsung heroes of India's 2007 win

The inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup was held in South Africa in 2007. Twelve teams participated in the 13-day marquee event. Ten Test-playing nations along with Kenya and Scotland were involved in the keenly-contested competition.

India decided to send a relatively young team after senior players opted to skip the event. MS Dhoni was named as the Indian captain for the first time and this started one of the finest leadership eras in world cricket. The Men in Blue suffered a solitary defeat in the competition against New Zealand in the Super Eight stage but went on to win four consecutive matches to lift the title on September 24. They beat arch-rivals Pakistan in the finals in Johannesburg by five runs.

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While Dhoni was lauded for his leadership skills during the showpiece event, Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir received immense praise for their performances with the willow. Yuvraj created the moment of the tournament as he hit Stuart Broad for six sixes in an over en route to a record-smashing 12-ball half-century. Meanwhile, Gambhir hit a magnificent 75 off 54 balls in the final to help India win the crown.

However, there are bound to be a few unsung heroes in every team which wins a World title and it was no different for Dhoni's men.

Some unsung heroes of India's T20 World Cup triumph

Irfan Pathan was adjudged Player of the Final after he bagged a three-for against the Men in Green. While many remember his performances from the unforgettable night, his contributions throughout the campaign is often overlooked. In seven games, the all-rounder picked up 10 wickets at an average of 14.90.

Joginder Sharma is another unsung hero of India's title-winning campaign. The right-arm pacer bowled two of the most difficult overs for India in the tournament. In the semi-finals against mighty Australia, he had to defend 22 runs against two quality Aussie batters, Michael Hussey and Brad Haddin. The right-arm seamer conceded just six runs and picked up two wickets as the Asian giants won by 15 runs. In the finals, he defended 13 runs, conceding just seven and bagging the last wicket of Misbah-ul-Haq to give his team a significant victory.

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Current Indian captain Rohit Sharma is another unsung hero for India in the T20 World Cup 2007. Two of his standout performances came against South Africa in the Super Eights and against Pakistan in the finals. In the game against the Proteas, Rohit was adjudged Player of the Match for his unbeaten 40-ball 50. Against Pakistan, in the summit clash, the Mumbai batter scored an unbeaten 16-ball 30, which turned out to be a match-winning knock.