Indian Cricket Team: An Unrelenting Misery And Misfortune
An Unrelenting Misery And Misfortune, India’s cricket team has experienced success and failures over the years at the T20 World Cup. Here’s an overview of the India’s performance in this tournament over time:
In the inaugural season of the championship, held in South Africa in 2007, the Indian team led by MS Dhoni shocked everyone and returned with the elusive trophy. India beat Pakistan twice before narrowly losing to New Zealand, South Africa, England and Australia among others to win their first ever title.
After winning the rugby league World Cup in 2008, England pulled a shock victory over home nation Australia before sensationally losing key matches against Bangladesh and Ireland before being blown away by stronger teams such as England, West Indies, and South Africa.
MS Dhoni & Co. met the same fate in 2010 edition as well with India defeating Afghanistan and South Africa but once again failed to open their account in the Super-8 round, losing to West Indies and Sri Lanka. In this time, England defeated Australia and won the championship held in the Caribbean island.
India’s national team exited early in 2012, even though they won more games. They beat Afghanistan, England, Pakistan and South Africa, but lost to Australia in their eighth-place playoff game. Eventually, the negative Net Run Rate in the semi-final race led to their ouster from the competition.
India were runners-up in 2014. They finished unbeaten, going on to lose the final against Sri Lanka by six wickets. India beat Pakistan, West Indies, Bangladesh, Australia, and South Africa during the event but couldn’t take the title in the final clash.
India entered as favourites in the 2016 World Cup semi-finals but bowed out. India, who lost to West Indies in a high-scoring semi-final after scoring 192/2, had a topsy-turvy ride in Mumbai, beating Pakistan, Australia and Bangladesh en route to the semis before losing to New Zealand.
India experienced a disastrous run in the 2021 T20 World Cup. Losing their first ever World Cup match to Pakistan in the Super 12 round, their fate was sealed despite a victory over New Zealand. While India bounced back and won three games comfortably, it was too late for them to win the cup with Australia claiming it in the finals.