Former India pacer S Sreesanth, famous for his animated on-field celebrations, has finally revealed the story behind one of his most unforgettable moments — dismissing Australian opener Matthew Hayden in the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 semifinal. The incident took place in Durban on September 22, 2007, when Sreesanth uprooted Hayden’s stumps with a fiery yorker from around the wicket, ending a well-made 62-run knock.
Pumped with adrenaline, Sreesanth sprinted towards the other end, crouched low, and slapped the pitch three times in an intense celebration that caught everyone’s attention. Reflecting on the moment after 18 years, the two-time World Cup winner credited his unique reaction to his love for WWE (formerly WWF).
“𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒘 𝑯𝒂𝒚𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒔 𝒔𝒐 𝒃𝒊𝒈. 𝑴𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒅. 𝑯𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝑾𝑾𝑭, 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 ‘𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒑𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒕’,” 𝑺𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒚 𝑺𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑱𝒊𝒐𝑯𝒐𝒕𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓.
Turning Point in the Semifinal
Sreesanth’s dismissal of Hayden shifted the momentum in India’s favour. At the time, Australia were cruising at 134/2 in 14.3 overs while chasing India’s 188/5. His fiery spell — which ended with figures of 2 for 12 — played a pivotal role in restricting the Aussies.
India went on to win the match by 15 runs, securing a place in the final. Sreesanth also took the iconic catch of Misbah-ul-Haq at fine leg in the summit clash, sealing India’s maiden T20 World Cup triumph.
“𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆, 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕; 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒆. 𝑪𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏,” 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑲𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒂 𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
Life After Cricket
In the IPL, Sreesanth represented Rajasthan Royals and became the first Kerala Ranji player to play T20Is for India. His career took a downturn after being handed a life ban in 2013 due to the IPL spot-fixing scandal, which was later reduced to seven years in 2019.
He ventured into reality television in 2018 with Bigg Boss, finishing as the runner-up. In 2020, he returned to domestic cricket with Kerala before announcing his retirement in March 2022. These days, he can often be seen in the commentary box, sharing insights and reliving stories from his cricketing days.
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