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Joginder Sharma - Still not over after that 'one' over

01:33PM Sun 24 Sep, 2017

Guest appearances in a story can be strange at times, it might just be for a limited time frame, but they enjoy a telling impact. Joginder Sharma might not enjoy being termed a guest in one of India's greatest cricketing tales, but he will forever be first associated with the dramatic final over of the ICC World T20 2007.
The legend of 2007 belongs mainly to Mahendra Singh Dhoni but it would not be an aberration to suggest that one of the first chapters of the story will be dominated by Joginder Sharma, the Haryana-born all-rounder.
If you can hit the ball hard and make the ball swing big, and if you happen to be from Haryana as well, the pressures of being compared to the stalwart Kapil Dev is obvious. It was no different for a young Joginder when he was making early inroads in Haryana cricket. It's another coincidence that Joginder, also called Jogi, was born in 1983, the year that changed the demographics of Indian cricket with Kapil Dev at the helm of it.
"He's such a big name in not just Indian cricket but world cricket, I have utmost regard for him and I consider myself extremely lucky that there were comparisons with him. People who have played with Paaji, who have been around him have often told me that I am a reflection of the great man and there's nothing more humbling than that," Joginder Sharma told Cricbuzz in a freewheeling chat, following a felicitation programme by a private television channel where he was bestowed with the title of 'Hero of Haryana'.
One only sees what is there to be seen, and thus much of Joginder's hardwork and struggles in life before breaking into the Indian side is not known to many. Pointing out to this reason, Joginder says that there is always a lot more than what meets the eye. He is quick to reminisce his first Under-16 game for Haryana where he got a hundred batting at No. 8 and picked up a handful of wickets. He refers to his growth in cricket as stairs, which he kept climbing with sheer dedication and hardwork. "My first-class debut against Madhya Pradesh was special where I scored 81 runs and picked up 11 wickets in the match, the selectors spotted me and backed my talent. I have never shied away from giving it my all, be it for Haryana, or North Zone or while playing for India."
Joginder never came across as a break-the-door-open kind of a talent. While he kept running in hard in the domestic circuit, his real moment of recognition came when he picked up the wickets of Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Yuvraj Singh in a game for India A against India Seniors. "I was not meant to play that match actually, though I was a part of the camp. Ashish Nehra picked up an injury just ahead of the game, and I got a chance," Joginder says with a smile. "I had picked up wickets in the past too, but these three were special. There were selectors who were watching that game and it caught their attention all of a sudden, following which I played for India."
Joginder made his ODI debut against Bangladesh in 2004, and didn't have the best of games, he ended with returns of 5* & 1-28, much better that his captain-to-be Dhoni, who was run out for a duck. He almost won India the game in the next one-dayer, but lack of support from the tail saw India falling short by only 15 runs. Another ODI and he soon found himself off the road for the next three years.
A firm believer of hardwork, Joginder went back and enjoyed one of his best ever domestic seasons when he bagged 39 wickets, including ten-wicket match hauls and a hat-trick in the 2006-07 season. And then came the inaugural ICC World T20 in South Africa in 2007. Before he bowled the much talked about final over in the final, he had the comforts of a dress rehearsal against Australia in the semi-final. Defending 22 off the final over, following two incredible overs from Harbhajan Singh and RP Singh, Joginder got his act right. One would argue that he was the default choice since all else were bowled out but his execution did leave a mark amid the exulting joys of reaching the final, if not on anyone, on Dhoni surely.
It was perhaps this 'default choice' which never got Joginder his due credit as on the day of the final as well, Dhoni feared to go to Harbhajan who had been clattered for three sixes in his last over by Misbah-ul-Haq.
"Many might not know but I have played against Mahi [Dhoni] in a few first-class games and he had seen me bowl a few last overs in the past as well, successfully. That could have lent to his confidence and I used to be good in the target bowling drills at the nets too.
"When I started off with a wide, I am sure everyone watching that game were very tensed but trust me, I was happy because that ball swung big and I was confident that given a chance, it would take me one or two deliveries to get rid of the left-hander [Mohammad Asif] who was at the opposite end," he added.
Joginder got hit for a six off the second ball and Dhoni, who was on his first assignment as the India captain in what was an alien format, ran up to Joginder with a few words of advice. Joginder couldn't have remembered it better than he does, after all these are the tales his grandchildren would grow up listening to.
"The best thing about Mahi during that over was he told me that if we lose, he would take the responsibility. He asked me to be relaxed and give it my best, even if it was by a margin by one run, we would win, he kept saying.
"If you have noticed, I have a slight pause in my action and when Misbah was making his shuffle to play the scoop shot, I was just about to take my leap ahead of the delivery stride. I thought I had enough time to slow my delivery down and follow him. I am glad, in fact the entire nation is glad, that it came off well," he added.
Dhoni, at the post-match presentation, mentioned that he wanted to throw the ball to someone who was desperate to do well at this level. He had perhaps spotted that desperation in Joginder better than anyone else, not that he was an expert at gambling but that afternoon, when the wheel spun, Dhoni and Joginder were destined to land the ball on the number they wanted, not because they were broke but that was all that they had. Joginder was the last coin he had, and the first with whom he won his first big treasure.
Joginder, however, isn't new to the rants of 'he was lucky' and he doesn't mind that. "It's good if I proved lucky for my nation, but people shouldn't forget that I have put in a lot of hard work along with it. I have been on the other side of luck too, I never got to play for India again. I picked up an injury in 2008, following which I underwent a surgery. I worked hard for the next two years, during which we won the Deodhar Trophy too and I picked up six wickets in the final against West Zone in 2011. I was just harbouring hopes of a comeback and that's when I met with a ravaging road accident in 2011, where I suffered a serious head injury among other injuries. I am glad I came out alive and got back to the cricket field after a year or so."
Joginder is still someone who keeps getting mobbed in Haryana, with constant requests for photographs. Just before this interview was to take place, he had to stop for at least ten occasions to pose for pictures. However, that endearing smile and softness still remains, even after being appointed as the Deputy Superintendent of Police for the Haryana government.
That, Dhoni and Joginder might not have gone a long way together in international cricket but both making their international debuts in the same game goes to tell you a story. That, they had to come together again to script a story for posterity. That, that last over wasn't just an accident. It could well have been a confluence of the stars above that two small-towners had to own the world on that September afternoon. It was perhaps meant to be over with that 'one' over for Joginder but everyone who has followed Indian cricket would know that it shall never be over.
© Cricbuzz