Hyderabad: After a heartbreaking defeat to Australia in the final of 2003 World Cup, Indian cricket had gone through sea changes. Coach John Wright bade adieu Indian team leaving a great legacy behind while Sourav Ganguly was stripped of the captaincy. A new era started in Indian cricket with Greg Chappell appointed as the new boss and Rahul Dravid captain.
With India emerging as a consistent performer in international cricket, a good show was expected from the team in the 2007 World Cup. The Indian team had a good mix of talented youngsters and stalwarts. So the World Cup in the Caribbeans was supposed to be the magic moment for the Indian team. But destiny has some other plan. India had had one of their worst World Cup campaigns ever since 1979 when they had lost all of their matches.
India vs Bangladesh, 1st Match
India's campaign at the showpiece event started quite late. It was the eighth match of the tournament. India were pitted against minnows Bangladesh at Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain on March 17.
India vs Bangladesh match summary Rahul Dravid won the toss. But his decision to bat first was proved wrong as India were bundled out for 191 by a disciplined Bangladeshi bowling attack on a slow wicket. Sourav Ganguly scored 66 while Yuvraj Singh played 47 runs knock. Bangladesh pacer Mashrafe Mortaza pierced through the Indian batting attack scalping 4 wickets while Mohammad Rafique and Abdur Razzak picked up 3 wickets each to bowl India out for a paltry total.
A file photo of India vs Bangladesh match, 2007 World Cup. Bangladesh, in reply, proved that Indian batsmen were wrong in their approach to the conditions. Tamim Iqbal played an aggressive knock of 51 runs. He hit 7 boundaries and 2 sixes. After his departure, Mushfiqur Rahim (56) and Shakib-Al-Hasan (53) helped Bangladesh inflict a 5-wicket defeat on India.
Mushfiqur Rahim and Mohammad Ashraful after beating India by 5 wickets. This shameful defeat against Bangladesh, India's second after 2004, drew sharp criticism from fans, media and former cricketers.
India vs Bermuda, 2nd Match
After a lacklustre performance against Bangladesh, India needed to beat Bermuda and bring their World Cup campaign back on track. Captain Irving Romaine winning the toss invited India to bat. In the very first ball of the second over, Malachi Jones gave Bermuda an early breakthrough dismissing Robin Uthappa for three. India was silenced.
India vs Bermuda match summary Uthappa was caught at the slip by bulky Dwayne Leverock. It was an iconic catch, a big fat cricketer stretching his body to take a catch on his left. Leverock was so happy that he ran around the whole ground to celebrate the moment.
But what next happened Bermuda just couldn't believe it. Virender Sehwag rioted them scoring 114 off 87 balls. He also shared a match-changing 202-run second-wicket partnership with Sourav Ganguly. Thereafter, Yuvraj Singh smashed 83 off 47 and Sachin Tendulkar, who was sent to bat at No.6, played 29-ball 57 runs innings. India posted 413 for 5 in 50 overs, highest team total of the World Cup.
Bermuda's reply was nothing special. They were bowled out for 156 runs in the 44th over. Ajit Agarkar took 3 wickets while Zaheer Khan got two. India registered a massive 257-run win to turn around their campaign. The big win also gave a boost to their net-run-rate.
India vs Sri Lanka, 3rd Match
India were scheduled to take on Sri Lanka in their final Group B match on March 23 at Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain. It was a must-win game for India. Had they had to stay afloat in the tournament they had to beat a strong Sri Lankan side.
India vs Sri Lanka match summary Captain Rahul Dravid won the toss and decided to field first. India bowlers kept Sri Lankan batsmen in check bowling tight spells. Riding on half-centuries from Upal Tharanga and Chamara Silva Sri Lanka could score 254 for 6 at the end of 50 overs.
In reply, Robin Uthappa and Sourav Ganguly provided India with a modest start scoring 25 runs in seven overs. But India soon found themselves in troubled waters after Chaminda Vaas sent both Ganguly and Uthappa back to the hut.
India were reduced to 43 for 2 in the 11th over. In the very next over, Dilhara Fernando sent Sachin Tendulkar packing which built a huge pressure on the Men in Blue. However, Virender Sehwag displayed his ability to play Sri Lankan pacers and spinners. He was quick and scored 48 off 45 balls. But in the fifth ball of the 23rd over, Muttiah Muralitharan bamboozled him to dash India's hope of winning the match. India were four down for two short of 100 runs mark.
Captain Dravid tried to salvage the Indian innings scoring 60 but there was nobody who could provide him with support from the other end. India were bowled out for 185 in the 44th over with Muralitharan finished the match with a Match of the Match winning performance of 3 for 41.
Captain Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar got involved in an argument with Greg Chappell for not allowing Tendulkar to open innings. What was most surprising of India's defeat against Sri Lanka, the runners-up of the tournament, was their inability to play full 50 overs. They were bundled out with 11.3 overs left in their innings.
The defeat against Sri Lanka forced Men in Blue to return home early.
The entire country stood stunned in incredulity as India made group stage exit from the 2007 World Cup. It was so painful to see a team taking early flight just two weeks after leaving hosts West Indies in tatter in a warm-up match. An unexpected debacle left a country of billion enraged. Within a few days, loved stars of India became villains in the eye of the nation. Sharp criticism on media ripped them apart. Angry fans pelted stones at cricketers' home.
Aftershock
Around 200 people in Ranchi stormed into MS Dhoni's house and brought down walls and pillars of his house. They were angry with the young wicketkeeper-batsman's performance against Bangladesh in which India suffered a humiliation. Dhoni got out for a duck in the match which left fans in Ranchi furious. "Dhoni die, die," protesters chanted. Effigies were burnt and abuses were hurled at him. The situation was so bad that the state government had to seek the help of paramilitary force to protect Dhoni's house.
People were so angry with Greg Chappell after India's group stage exit from the 2007 World Cup. Similar protests were reported from Kolkata, Bengaluru and Delhi.
Revealing his horrific experience after landing in India, Dhoni said, “After we landed in Delhi, we had to get out in a police van. I was sitting next to Viru (Virender Sehwag) paaji. It was evening or night time. We were travelling at a decent speed - 60 or 70 kms - and that's quite a bit for India, that too on the narrow roads."
Greg Chappell with Indian players during the 2007 World Cup. He continued, "And, you know, media cars around us with their cameras and the big lights on top, it felt as if we had committed a big crime, maybe like a murderer or terrorist or something. We were actually chased by them. After a while, we entered a police station. We went there, we sat for a while and then we left in our cars after 15-20 minutes. That actually had a big impact on me and I channelised the aggression to become a better cricketer and a better human being.”
Even then BCCI president Sharad Pawar said India's exit "disappointed him and the nation". Pawar was so angry with Team India's performance that he went on to sack Greg Chappell and sent a strong message to the cricketers.
Chappell sacked, MS Dhoni new captain
"The Indian board is the only board which provided maximum facilities to the players, expectations from the team were quite high," he said. "(India's) performance against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka was not at all up to the mark, especially the batting and the fielding"," Pawar quoted as saying after India's disappointing performance in the World Cup.
Greg Chappell faced harsh criticism for spoiling India's dressing room atmosphere. His never-ending wish to experiment with young players and not letting Sachin open innings drew scathing criticism.
Chappell was soon sacked and Rahul Dravid was asked to give up captaincy. BCCI appointed MS Dhoni captain of the limited-overs team and Anil Kumble captain of the Test team. The pain of Caribbean drubbing was soon healed with India winning the 2007 World T20 in September in South Africa under Dhoni's leadership.
