S Sreesanth, when he got it right, was a delightful bowler to watch. Even though he did not have a particularly long career but still he made an impact. Sreesanth never backed down and always trusted his aggressive instincts with the ball in hand. Part of the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 world cup win, he was captained by MS Dhoni.
Recently Sreesanth recalled an interesting incident involving MS Dhoni. India was facing Australia in the semi-finals of the T20 world cup in 2007. Sreesanth mentioned that before the match Dhoni told him to bowl aggressively against Australia. He told Sreesanth this is the right time for your aggression against the mighty Aussies.
MS Dhoni pumped me up before Australia tie: Sreesanth
Sreesanth said in Hindi, “Dhoni bhai ne bhi chadaya tha uss match se phele. Wo bole yaar tu idhar udhar aggression dikhata hai ab Australia k khilaf dikha aggression”.
“I think it was more of a chaavi wala thing and I got fired at that time when Dhoni asked me to show aggression against Australia, as I had done the same everywhere. His words got me fired up at the right time”, Sreesanth said while speaking to Cow Corner Chronicles.
Sreesanth delivered for India and produced a magic spell of fast bowling. The pacer dismissed both Aussie opener Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden. He ended the match with figures of 2 for 12. Sreesanth played a crucial role in helping India reach the final of the T20 world cup.
Even in the finals against Pakistan, Sreesanth took the most important catch of the match. When at one point it looked Misbah-ul-Haq will take Pakistan home and win the world cup. Sreesanth took Misbah’s catch and India made history in South Africa, by winning the first-ever T20 world cup.