T20 World Cup: A king without a crown! That's the best way to describle Virat Kohli's long rule of Indian cricket as the Delhi lad has failed to win a single ICC trophy. Emerging from the shadows of MS Dhoni who had a plethora of ICC trophies, Virat in 9 years has drawn blanks but at the same time transformed Team India.From playing 33 matches in World T20 over the years, it will be fair to say that India hasn't been one of the strongest teams in competition despite winning the inaugural title in 2007. Here is Team India's journey in the World T20 so far .
The inaugural World T20 which was held in South Africa will always be one of the most cherished memories for every Indian. A great leader emerged at the inaugural world stage; when a new captain and a fresh-looking team defeated rival Pakistan in the finals by mere 5 runs to establish their dominance in the first ever campaign itself.
And who can forget the legendary 36 off 6 balls at Kingsmead, when Yuvraj Singh blasted Stuart Broad and stole the show as India trounced the English side in one of the games. He also scored the fastest 50, in just 12 balls
In the 2nd edition, the defending champions despite being the favorites, lost all their super-8 matches in England. India’s performance was deplorable; they were forced out of the tournament after losing 3 matches in a row. With no out of the box performance, the Indian side only defeated Ireland in the 2009 tournament.
After a forgettable 2009, India yet again failed at the World stage in West Indies. While the team had a comparatively better start to the campaign, they faltered against Australia and were knocked out of the ICC trophy race. Nevertheless, India’s Suresh Raina became a name to remember. The batter became the 2nd international player and 1st Indian player to hit a century in a T20I game. The now-retired cricketer hit a stunning 60 ball 101 against South Africa.
While the dominating Indian team entered the super-8 with ease in Sri Lanka, they however, failed in maintaining their demeanour until the finals. India won 2 of their matches, but could not make it to the final four due to their poor net run rate.
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In Bangladesh, India stormed into finals defeating the likes of Australia, England, West Indies. However, the team that did not lose any match lost the final clash. India fell at the hands of Sri Lanka who won the 2014 trophy by 6 wickets. Kohli who emerged as the supreme force, did some serious business of chasing down big scores in the outing. His phenomenal performance throughout the tour earned him the title of the Player of the Tournament.
Playing at home, India were undeniably the firm favorites. It was a bit disheartening at first when the team was defeated in the very first match against New Zealand. However, Dhoni’s men buckled up and without losing their momentum, India reached the semis, which was against the formidable West Indies. Despite Virat Kohli’s monumental effort who was later crowned as the player of the tournament, India was knocked out from semis. Eventually, it also became India’s most successful skipper, MS Dhoni’s last T20 world Cup.