Misbah-ul-Haq “played the wrong shot…”: Pakistan pacer reveals “saddest moment” against India in T20 World Cup final

Team India lifted the coveted 2007 T20 World Cup trophy after defeating Pakistan in the summit clash. The match came to a dramatic end as Pakistan needed 6 runs to win from 4 balls with only one wicket in hand. Misbah-ul-Haq, who had hit Joginder Sharma’s previous ball for a six, went for a scoop shot over short fine-leg. But the ball went straight into the hands of Sreesanth and India won the first T20 World Cup final by five runs. Recently, former Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif shared an interesting story about the last moments of the match where he was standing at the non-striker’s end opposite Misbah.

“My main memory is of the final match when Misbah played that shot. I was at the non-striker’s end. We hit the second last ball of the 19th over for a four and Misbah hit the first ball of the 20th over for a six. Then I went to him (Misbah) and said Chachu. He is older than me so I call him Chachu. Do not take single and double. Go and hit the six like you did on the first ball,” Asif told YouTuber Ryan Syed.

“The bowler (Joginder Sharma) had lost his rhythm and had no pace. But Misbah played the wrong shot in the wrong direction and we lost the World Cup. It will remain the saddest moment for me,” he added.

Asif was banned from international cricket in 2011 after being found guilty of being involved in the spot-fixing scandal. Asif was banned from international cricket for 7 years which ended his international career for Pakistan. Prior to this incident, Asif had played 23 Test matches for his country and scored 106 runs at an economy rate of 3.0.

In limited overs cricket, Mohammad Asif featured in 38 One Day Internationals (ODIs) and 11 T20 Internationals (T20I) games. Asif dismissed 46 batsmen in ODIs and took 13 wickets in T20Is. He also featured in the inaugural edition of IPL and played eight games for Deccan Chargers in 2008.

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