LAHORE – In the 53rd edition of its Podcast, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) celebrates 15 years of the Pakistan men’s cricket team’s victory in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2009, which coincides with this month’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
In the latest episode, the PCB Digital team has spoken with some of the star performers from that successful campaign in which Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the final at Lord’s on 21 June 2009.
Younis Khan-inspired Pakistan peaked at the right time to win four straight matches to win the title. They defeated New Zealand by six wickets, Ireland by 39 runs, South Africa by seven runs and Sri Lanka by eight wickets. Their other win was against the Netherlands by 82 runs, while the two loses were against England (48 runs) and Sri Lanka (19 runs).
Pakistan’s victory came after it had narrowly lost the 2007 T20 World Cup final by five runs. The 2009 victory was Pakistan’s first ICC title in 17 years.
Some of the leading performers only reflected on the successful campaign but also extended warm wishes to the current side, included:
Abdul Razzaq – took three for 20 in the final against Sri Lanka; he had joined the side as a replacement for an injured Yasir Arafat
Misbah Ul Haq – Would have been the fifth batter in had Pakistan lost the third wicket in the final, averaged 27.33 with a strike-rate of 117.14 and top-score of 20-ball 31 not out versus the Netherlands
Mohammad Amir – at 17 years and 58 days, he was the youngest player in the tournament; took six wickets in the tournament; bowled a memorable wicket-maiden first over in the final
Saeed Ajmal – Was joint-second leading wicket-taker with 12 wickets in the tournament
Shahid Afridi – took 11 wickets and scored 176 runs at a strike-rate of 141 in seven matches; was the player of the semi-final and the final, making him the only player to date to win player of the match awards in the semi-final and final in a same edition
Shoaib Malik – Featured in two critical partnerships with Shahid Afridi in the semi-final and final, putting on 67 runs off 58 balls for the third wicket against South Africa and an unbroken 76 runs for the third wicket from 58 balls in the final. In seven matches, Shoaib averaged 28.8 with the bat with a strike-rate of 102.85
