India's triumph over Pakistan in the inaugural Twenty20 extravaganza last
night made Pathan siblings -- Irfan and Yusuf -- part of history as they become
the lone Indian brothers in a World Cup winning side.
Irfan and Yusuf, the latter representing the country for the first time, played
vital roles as India edged past arch-rivals Pakistan in a humdinger to
emerge World Twenty20 champions in Johannesburg last night.
Irfan came up with match-winning figures of 3-16 to put the
skids under Pakistan's chase while Yusuf had earlier got India to a brisk start
with a breezy 15 in just eight balls.
This was, however, not the first time that two brothers had
taken the ground for the first time for India.
Mohinder and Surinder, son of Lala Amarnath, had done the country
proud with the brothers playing together several times in the 1970s.
In fact, seven pairs of brothers have won Test caps for India
and the trend started with the country's first ever Test match at Lord's in
1932 when Wazir and Nazir Ali turned out together.
In India's next Test at Bombay in 1933-34, fast bowler Amar Singh
played alongside brother L Ramji. The trend continued in Calcutta
when the legendary colonel, C K Nayudu had brother C S for company.
Arvind and Madhav Apte, Subhash and Baloo Gupte and Kripal
and Milkha Singh took the field in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Internationally, Australia has been at the forefront of fielding siblings
on the cricket field.
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