The International Cricket Council (ICC) will host the ninth edition of the Men’s T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the United States from June 1.
Cricket’s shortest format serves as the backbone of the most profitable league around the world and is responsible for bringing new fans to the game due to its slap-bang nature.
Here’s a brief history of the contest and its most important moments.
2007
host: South Africa
Last: India vs Pakistan
winner: India – 5 points difference
team: 12
Tournament players: Shahid Afridi
As expected, this was a tournament full of firsts. 33 of his T20I players made their debut, several individual and team records were set, and the world’s first T20 champion was crowned.
Chris Gayle scored his first T20I century with a 57-ball 117 in the opening match against South Africa.
Yuvraj Singh famously hit England fast bowler Stuart Broad for a six in an over, breaking the record for fastest half-century in a T20I (50 in 12 balls) in the process.
India and Pakistan grabbed the headlines in two separate encounters, with the rivals finishing tied at the Super 8 stage in what was a first-ever bowl-out for T20Is. Pakistan failed to attack the stumps despite three attempts, while India attacked every time.
The historic final sent the cricketing world into a frenzy. India vs Pakistan, decided in the last over.
Pakistan needed 13 points before Misbah-ul-Haq reduced the balance to 4-6. And then — Pakistan fans were already looking away — Misbah scooped Joginder Sharma to S Sreesanth with a fine leg, sparking wild celebrations. Shocked and heartbroken, Misbah sat back as India became the inaugural T20 world champions.
2009
host: England
Last: pakistan vs sri lanka
winner: Pakistan – up to 8 wickets
team: 12
Players of the tournament: Tillakaratne Dilshan
England’s home T20 World Cup got off to a bad start as they lost to the so-called weak Netherlands at Lord’s. The hosts still qualified for the Super 8s, but two heavy defeats saw their campaign end there, along with holders India and Australia.
Pakistan bounced back from a typical slow start and faced South Africa in the semi-finals, where Shahid Afridi was once again eliminated in the last four.
Tillakaratne Dilshan’s unbeaten 96 off 57 deliveries helped Sri Lanka win the semi-final against the West Indies by 57 runs.
The tournament was held months after a horrific armed attack on the touring Sri Lankan cricket team’s bus in Lahore, Pakistan. The hymn before the final match was particularly moving.
Teenage fast bowler Mohammad Amir hit Dilshan for a duck, causing a batting collapse, but Kumar Sangakkara could not recover even as he scored 64 runs off 52 balls.
Afridi continued the chase for another half-century and finally struck his trademark Starman celebration pose.
2010
host: west indies
Last: australia vs england
winner: England – up to 7 wickets
team: 12
Players of the tournament: kevin petersen
Due to schedule changes, West Indies will host the 2010 tournament less than a year after the last tournament.
Afghanistan made its mark with an impressive debut amid the ongoing war in the country.
Australia found their typical relentless World Cup form on the way to the final. Needing 48 runs from the last three overs, Michael Hussey exemplified the Australian never-give-up attitude by forcing Pakistan’s bowlers, especially Saeed Ajmal, to hit four sixes and two fours. did.
England’s explosive batting line-up, featuring Paul Collingwood and Pietersen, secured their first World Cup appearance after a seven-wicket victory in Barbados.
2012
host: Sri Lanka
Last: Sri Lanka vs West Indies
winner: West Indies – 36 runs
team: 12
Tournament players: Shane Watson
When the T20 World Cup finally arrived in South Asia, India once again fell short despite beating arch rivals Pakistan by eight wickets in the Super 8s.
Instead, Pakistan progressed in net run rate and faced Sri Lanka in the semi-finals.
As the Lankan Lions roared their way to a home final, the hosts’ spin wizards Ajanta Mendis and Rangana Herath proved too clever for Pakistan.
The powerful West Indies also joined in, scoring 205 runs, the highest in the tournament, thanks to Gayle’s 75 runs off 41 balls, defeating Australia with 74 runs.
In the final, Marlon Samuels capped off a fantastic year by scoring an unbeaten 78 runs as wickets fell all around him. A below-par target of 137 was enough as Sunil Narine spun a web to dismiss the hosts for 101 in 18.4 overs.
Gayle and others danced to the Korean pop hit “Gangnam Style,” and the Caribbean side’s victory was hailed as the revival of West Indian cricket.
2014
host: bangladesh
Last: India vs Sri Lanka
winner: Sri Lanka – 6 wickets apart
team: 16
Players of the tournament: Virat Kohli
The tournament was expanded to 16 teams, with Hong Kong, Nepal and the United Arab Emirates participating in the T20 World Cup for the first time.
In the opening match, the Bengal Tigers defeated a hapless Afghanistan by nine wickets, but then the hosts lost to Hong Kong in one of the tournament’s biggest upsets.
In the first semi-final, Sri Lanka defeated West Indies by 27 runs, overturning a two-year drought. A few hours later, Kohli showed his superiority in batting by scoring 72 off 44 balls, defeating a strong South African pitching staff.
Kohli’s form helped India reach a target of 131 but Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, leaders of Sri Lanka’s golden generation who were on the back foot in the 50-over World Cup final against India three years ago, turned things around.
Kohli’s total of 319 runs remains a T20 World Cup record.
2016
host: India
Last: England vs West Indies
winner: West Indies – 4 wickets
team: 16
Player of the Tournament: Virat Kohli
India were hosting the T20 World Cup for the first time and with a star-studded squad from the IPL, they were the overwhelming favourites to win.
To the delight of a packed crowd at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens Stadium, Kohli led India to 11 consecutive group wins against Pakistan at the ICC World Cup.
Kohli hit a 47-ball 89 in the semi-final to reach the target of 193 but could do little as Lendl Simmons broke over a billion Indian hearts to get past the West Indies.
West Indies faltered in the closing stages as England looked to have done enough despite a trailing score of 155. Carlos Brathwaite (relatively unknown), who was left over from Stokes in the final, makes an appearance. 19 players needed six pitches. Six, six, six, six. game over! The adventurous ending left Stokes in tears and West Indies legend Ian Bishop shouted on television: “Carlos Brathwaite, remember his name!”
2021
host: UAE and Oman
Last: Australia vs New Zealand
winner: Australia – up to 8 wickets
team: 16
Players of the tournament: david warner
The first ICC World Cup in the post-pandemic era was moved to the Gulf region due to COVID-19 related restrictions in the original host country, India.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam and vice-captain Mohammed Rizwan performed brilliantly to secure their 13th victory against India in the ICC World Cup. It was India’s first time losing a T20I match by 10 wickets.
Pakistan won all five Super 12 matches to reach the semi-finals, while New Zealand defeated India to secure the fourth place in the semi-finals.
The Kiwis moved one place above England in the first semi-final thanks to Darryl Mitchell’s 47-ball 72.
In the other semi-final, Rizwan looked to lead Pakistan to the upper hand, but Shadab Khan’s foot spin put Australia into a tight spot, but poor fielding and the destructive play of Marcus Stoinis and Matthew Wade forced Australia into a corner. They won against Australia with their amazing batting.
Kane Williamson’s 48-ball 85 took New Zealand to the final target of 173, but Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh blew it away with seven balls remaining.
2022
host: Australia
Last: England vs Pakistan
winner: England – 5 wickets
team: 16
Player of the tournament: Sam Curran
Namibia caused the biggest shock of the tournament by beating Sri Lanka in their first group match, followed by Scotland beating two-time champions West Indies the next day, who were also eliminated in the first round by Ireland.
Weather conditions effectively saw hosts and former champions Australia eliminated from the Super 12. India saved the day with a spectacular comeback win against a Kohli-led Pakistan side, who managed to reach the semi-finals after beating a plucky Zimbabwe.
Pakistan achieved a seven-wicket victory against New Zealand in the semi-finals, drawing comparisons to their 1992 World Cup victory.
The next logical step was to face England in the final, and the 2010 champions lived up to those expectations by crushing India. His returning prodigal son Alex Hales scored an unbeaten 56 runs in a 10-wicket victory to win the match.
Comparisons with 1992 stayed the course when Haris Rauf got off to a good start with the ball after Pakistan set up a middling goal in front of a packed Melbourne Cricket Ground. But Stokes turned history on its head, breaking Pakistan’s hearts and leading England to their second T20 title.
