The upcoming edition of the T20 World Cup in Australia is the eighth edition of the game’s shortest mega event. India surprised everyone in the inaugural edition in 2007 to emerge as champions. They just had the experience of playing 1 T20I before the World Cup. But India went on to win the World Cup. Let us look at When Did India Play Its Best Team In T20 WC?
They didn’t necessarily play with any set template. The team in hindsight was too young to embrace one style. India goes into this edition with arguably one of their least balanced squads ever.
We look at When Did India Play Its Best Team In T20 WC?
#6 Was it the disaster of 2009 and 2010?
India’s worst result in T20 World Cups came in back-to-back editions in 2009 and 2010. They failed to win a single game in the second round. After flying high in the first round of both World Cups, India suffered one shocking defeat after the other. But it wasn’t because of the squad that the team had.
#5 The creme da la of 2009
In fact, India’s playing XI in 2009 was one of the most balanced sides the team ever played. India fielded three genuine all-rounders in Ravindra Jadeja, Irfan Pathan, and Yusuf Pathan. They had the services of Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina as well. In Ishant Sharma, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, and Pragyan Ojha, the bowling had all the might. But poor execution and stubborn approach cost India dearly in the competition.
#4 The catastrophe of 2010
India didn’t learn their lesson in the subsequent edition too. In fact, in the 2010 edition, India went down without a fight. Their opening game in the super 8 was against Australia, India’s misplaced faith in their players cost them big time. India was reduced to 50-7 chasing a mammoth 184. They never recovered post that defeat. It was one of the weakest performances of the Indian team across all T20 World Cups.
#3 The sameness of 2012 and 2021
India can consider itself unlucky in both these editions. In 2012, India lost just a single game to crash out of the tournament. India lost a crucial toss against Australia in a super 8 game to lose a rain-marred contest. History repeated itself in 2021 when India lost two tosses consecutively. The dew factor played a huge part in India’s early exit from the tournament. But the team during both these editions was far from perfect.
#2 The overachievers of 2007
India’s fifth bowler was Joginder Sharma when they won the T20 World Cup. It was the biggest gamble a team had ever taken to win the World Cup. Irfan Pathan was India’s bowling allrounder who walked in at number 7. India played their boldest cricket in the inaugural edition. It was arguably the biggest reason behind their success. Their team was far from perfect, but their execution was spot on.
#1 The best bunch on paper – 2014 and 2016
India was arguably the best T20 team in the world during the period between 2014-16. They were the runners-up in the 2014 edition and reached the semis in 2016. India had brilliant batting firepower combined with bowling smarts in both these editions. They had batting till number 8 in 2014 while they batted till number 9 in 2016.
India had everything going for them in these two editions. It was just their shackled minds that couldn’t take them over the line in these tournaments. This is one hurdle the team would like to take this time around.
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