When considering the origins of one of sport’s most entertaining leagues, we must travel back to the moment of one catch.
A deafening silence envelopes the full house at the iconic Bull Ring – an apt nickname for The Wanderers stadium in the tiny Sandton suburb of Johannesburg. A young man from Rohtak, now a Deputy Superintendent of Police, is lumbering in to bowl to an older gentleman from just up the road but across the border in Mianwali, Punjab. The ball is scooped up in the air, and expected to go for a six. Instead, it swirls briefly, then settles into the hands of a dancer, politician and decent fast bowler from Kerala’s Kothamangalam municipality. It’s a catch that proves to be more than a match-winner, even a tournament-clincher.
The men in this tale of triumph? Joginder Sharma, Misbah-ul-Haq and S Sreesanth. The occasion? The finale of the inaugural ICC World T20.
While T20 cricket has humble beginnings in England, it can be argued that India winning the 2007 World T20 stirred the dormant volcano that is franchise cricket.
This story is from the April 2018 edition of GQ India.
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This story is from the April 2018 edition of GQ India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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