T20 World Cup 2021: Rating Team India’s performance at each edition
Team India will head into the T20 World Cup 2021, to be held in the UAE and Oman, as one of the favorites to win the crown. Virat Kohli will be leading India in the T20 World Cup for the first and last time. Kohli has already announced that he will be stepping down from the T20 captaincy at the end of the ICC event. As such, he would be keen to sign off on a high.
Although India have been among the top contenders to win the T20 World Cup crown in most of the editions, they have lifted the title only once. They finished runners-up once and reached the semi-finals on one other occasion. There will be high expectations from Kohli and co. to break the jinx this time around.
Looking back at India’s performances in previous T20 World Cups
Ahead of the latest edition of the T20 World Cup, we review Team India’s performance at each of the previous six editions.
2007 T20 World Cup: Champions (10/10)
Having been knocked out of the 50-over World Cup from the first round, Indian cricket was at one of its lowest points. However, MS Dhoni and his bunch of fearless youngsters turned a year of sorrow for Indian cricket into one of ultimate joy. India won the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup in South Africa, defeating arch-rivals Pakistan by five runs in a pulsating final at the Wanderers.
There were many memorable moments for India en route to winning the 2007 T20 World Cup. India and Pakistan played out a tie earlier in the tournament. In the era before Super Overs, the match was decided on the basis of a bowl-out, with India emerging winners.
“One of the highlights of my life.”
From the bowl-out in the group stage to the thrilling final, @DineshKarthik looks back on the epic India vs Pakistan matches of the 2007 #T20WorldCup. https://t.co/xIUq23zP2z
Yuvraj Singh's sixes off Stuart Broad have, of course, been immortalized. The inaugural T20 World Cup also gave us a glimpse of Rohit Sharma’s incredible talent. As a 20-year-old, Rohit scored a fine half-century against South Africa before smashing a crucial 16-ball 30* in the final.
Gautam Gambhir, who top-scored in the final with 75, was India's leading run-scorer, smashing 227 runs at a strike rate of 129.71. While RP Singh was India’s leading wicket-taker with 12 scalps, Irfan Pathan was the man of the final for his figures of 3 for 16.
2009 T20 World Cup: Knocked out in Super 8s (3/10)
India put up a rather feeble display in their attempt to defend their T20 World Cup crown in England in 2009. After breezing through the group stage, with easy wins over Bangladesh and Ireland, they finished last in the Super 8 round and were knocked out.
India faced West Indies, England and South Africa in their Super 8 games and put up disappointing performances in all three matches. The defending champions were hammered by seven wickets by the Windies, as they failed to defend 153. Next, India fell short by three runs, while chasing 154 against hosts England. The Proteas then successfully defended a total of 130 as India could only post 118 for 8.
Team India’s 2009 T20 world cup jersey looked so damn good. The best one according to me😍
#T20WorldCup #T20 #India #TeamIndia #BCCI #NewJersey https://t.co/7at7wOzrj2
It was a collective failure for Team India at the 2009 T20 World Cup, with the batters, in particular, struggling. Yuvraj was the team’s top run-getter at the event, scoring 153 runs from five games at a strike rate of 154.54. On the bowling front, left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojh claimed seven wickets in three matches.