Exactly six years ago, legendary Indian batsman, Rahul Dravid made his T20I debut for India against England at Old Trafford, Manchester. Making a debut alongside him was Ajinkya Rahane, who also made his ODI debut on that tour.
Having piled on the runs in the the Indian domestic circuit, Rahane’s debut was more on the expected lines. On the other hand, Dravid had not played ODI cricket for India since 2009. His recall to the ODI side and then him earning his T20I cap came as a pleasing surprise for many people. He, subsequently, retired from limited-overs format after this series.
In what MS Dhoni’s first major failure as a captain in Test cricket, India had lost the Test series (0-4) and their No. 1 ranking. The Test series was followed by a lone T20I. Dhoni had won the toss and chose to bat. India went on to score 165-10 in 19.4 overs.
Rahane, who opened the innings with Parthiv Patel, had top-scored with 61 (39) with the help of eight fours. Dravid, who batted at No. 3, scored 31 (21) with the help of three sixes. He scored three sixes in the same Samit Patel over. With bowling figures of 3.4-0-22-4, Jade Dernbach was the pick of the bowlers for England.
England chased the total with three balls and six wickets to spare. Eoin Morgan top-scored with 49 (27) with the help of seven fours and a six. With figures of 4-0-25-2, Munaf Patel was the highest wicket-taker for India in the match. Dernbach was declared the Man-of-the-Match for his career-best T20I performance.
Watch Dravid hitting three sixes in his debut T20I: