Pakistan’s run to the semi-finals was far from convincing, with losses to England and Sri Lanka on the way. But they stepped up in the knock-outs, beating South Africa in the semi-final before exacting revenge on Sri Lanka in clinical fashion to win only the second major trophy in their history and a maiden T20 World Cup.

Here are the players who made it happen:

Younis Khan

Widely regarded as one of the greatest Test middle-order batters of his generation, Younis stepped up not just with the bat, averaging over 57, but also as a leader as he captained the side to the title. His T20 career ended a year after the World Cup and he never led Pakistan after 2009, but he went on to achieve great heights in other formats. He represented Pakistan until 2017, became their first batter to score 10,000 Test runs, and got 7,000 runs in ODIs.

Shahid Afridi

Pakistan fans will never forget the visuals of Afridi’s trademark celebration with his arms aloft as he hit the winning runs in the final on the back of a player-of-the-match performance. He continued to make headlines for the rest of his career, coming out of retirement multiple times and even leading Pakistan for a good period. His ODI exploits were the highlight of his eventful international career that ended in 2018. The interim chief selector of Pakistan in 202-23, Afridi often appears on TV broadcasts as a cricket expert.

Ahmed Shahzad

At 17, Shahzad was among the youngest players in the tournament. While he played only one game in the World Cup, he was widely regarded as ‘one for the future’ and made many appearances across formats for Pakistan going forward. Shahzad has the distinction of being the first Pakistani player to score a hundred in all three formats, but has not played international cricket since 2019. He is still active on the domestic circuit.

Fawad Alam

Another youngster who many believed would have a bright future, Fawad had a stop-and-start international career. He made only 81 appearances across formats, but the twilight of his career was also its peak. Alam made a Test comeback in 2019 after a 10-year absence at the age of 34 and went on to score loads of runs. Having last played for Pakistan in 2022, he decided to ply his trade in the USA in late 2023. He also appears as a Pakistani TV actor from time to time.

Kamran Akmal

Pakistan’s leading run-scorer in the 2009 T20 World Cup, Kamran’s career had no shortage of controversies. A major part of his cricketing days was defined by flashes of brilliance with the bat and countless crucial wicketkeeping errors. While he officially retired from all forms in early 2023, he last played for the national side in 2017. Since retirement, Kamran has focussed on coaching and administrative roles, including that of consultant to chief national team selector Wahab Riaz.

Misbah-ul-Haq

Already 35 when Pakistan won the World Cup, Misbah’s career was far from over. His batting consistency continued, and he led Pakistan across formats. His reign in Tests was the most impressive and his 26 wins as captain is a national record to date. His T20I career was the earliest to conclude, and after his international retirement in 2017, he coached the national team while also being the chief selector. A popular face as an expert on television, Misbah is part of PCB’s cricket technical committee.

Salman Butt

Perhaps the most exciting young prospect in Pakistan cricket at the time, Butt experienced the highest of highs early in his career including the World Cup title. Only a year later, he was involved in one of the biggest spot-fixing scandals in cricket history as captain, and never played for Pakistan thereafter. He played domestic cricket for a few years after his return in 2016. Late last year, the PCB offered him a consultancy role but withdrew it a day later owing to criticism.

Shahzaib Hasan

With a couple of useful knocks in the T20 World Cup, 19-year-old Shahzaib justified the hype around him. However, his career never really reached the promised land, as he played only 13 times for Pakistan and was never picked after late 2010. Whatever hope he had left to make a comeback ended in 2018 after he was banned for four years for spot-fixing in the PSL.

Abdul Razzaq

Razzaq’s experience helped Pakistan win the World Cup as he picked 3-20 in the final and he is now using that experience to help the current crop. Razzaq retired from international cricket at the age of 33 in 2013, but played domestic cricket for a few years after that. He has since coached the national team and domestic T20 teams, but is currently part of the national selection committees of both the men’s and women’s teams.

Shoaib Malik

While the careers of some of his younger teammates in the World Cup have ended, Malik is still going strong. A limited-overs great, the former captain was one of only three players from the 2009 World Cup squad who were also part of the victorious 2017 Champions Trophy team. Now 42, he last represented Pakistan in 2021 but is currently competing in T20 franchise tournaments, having most recently played in the PSL two months ago. He is also a popular television expert.

Rao Iftikhar Anjum

Anjum only ever played two T20Is throughout his career, but still retired as a World Cup winner. The medium pacer, who took over 500 wickets in first-class cricket, was never able to replicate those performances in his 64 international matches and last played for Pakistan in 2010. In December 2023, he joined World Cup-winning teammate Kamran on PCB’s national team selection advisory committee.

Mohammad Amir  

The youngest of the 2009 world champions at 17, Amir is the only player from that squad who will represent Pakistan at the upcoming 2024 T20 World Cup. On either side of his five-year-ban from cricket after the infamous spot-fixing scandal, he produced memorable bowling performances, including a match-winning showing in the 2017 Champions Trophy final against India. After initially retiring from all formats in 2020, Amir decided to make a comeback earlier this year ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup.

Saeed Ajmal

Another late bloomer, Ajmal’s international career was still young when he picked 12 wickets en route to Pakistan’s 2009 campaign, the joint second-most in the tournament. He went on to have an impressive career across formats, especially in ODI and T20Is where he ended with averages of 22.72 and 17.83 respectively, before retiring in 2017 at the age of 40. The only Pakistani to have taken a hundred Test wickets despite having debuted after 40, Ajmal was named Pakistan’s spin-bowling coach ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup.

Sohail Tanvir

The first to win an IPL Purple Cap, Tanvir’s international career post the World Cup was marred by injuries and a very stop-start journey with the national team ended in 2017. He continued to play domestic T20 and franchise cricket until 2022, ending his T20 career with almost 400 wickets. In 2023, he became part of a selection committee for domestic age-group teams in Pakistan, and was later appointed the head of the junior national selection committee.

Umar Gul

Fifteen years after leading the wicket-taking charts in the 2009 T20 World Cup, Gul will lead the current crop as the fast-bowling coach at the 2024 T20 World Cup. Gul was a mainstay of the Pakistan fast-bowling set-up for most of his career and had a T20I bowling average of below 17, one of the best of all-time for bowlers to have played at least 60 games. After being part of the Afghanistan coaching setup since 2022, he joined Pakistan in the same role in 2023.

Yasir Arafat and Shoaib Akhtar – withdrawn

Yasir and Shoaib were originally part of the World Cup squad, but were withdrawn later due to injury and illness respectively. Yasir’s international career lasted only 27 games. After retirement, he has coached junior level teams in England in recent years and was even appointed as Pakistan’s high-performance coach in late 2023. Meanwhile, controversies never left Shoaib in the remainder of his career, which ended at the 2011 ODI World Cup. He has since dabbled in commentary and expert analysis.