If you thought you had seen the best ever T20I last over in the Hussey 2010 chase, the best ever World T20 final in 2007, best ever West Indian performance in 2012 including the post- match celebrations, then the World T20 2016 reminded you that a cricket game is not over till it’s over! You just saw the best ever World T20 in this West Indian win against England in the grand final! When a tournament starts and ends with a six, you know it has all in it!
Just like the last edition, this World T20 also supported the ten-team main round system. All the pretournament speculations just got buried when the favourites India couldn’t make it to the final, courtesy brutal West Indian show in the second semi-final, when power beat the way of playing the game with using too much mind, which MS Dhoni had also admitted after India’s last year defeat to South Africa, and this time again, India just played the tournament using too much brain, keeping their focus on ones and twos rather than boundaries, still managing to score heavily, courtesy Virat Kohli’s artistry and mastery and MS Dhoni’s fitness, which he mentioned in the ‘famous’ post-match press conference against semi-final loss to the West Indies. Although starting the tournament as favourites, India couldn’t bring out their best game in the tournament, keep aside Virat Kohli. India suffered a shock loss to New Zealand in the tournament opener, but played the same way against the arch rivals Pakistan they are used to in the ICC World Cups and World T20s, thus beating them comprehensively. With the points table being evenly set at the last moments of the group stage, India clinched a narrow win against Bangladesh, with Bangladesh needing just 2 of the last 3 balls, Bangladesh’s two most experienced batsmen Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah emulating MS Dhoni by sealing the game with a six, perished at deep mid-wicket, giving India a much needed one-run gasping win. In their last group game, a virtual quarter final, they beat Australia to confirm a semi-final spot, later losing to the West Indies there, even after scoring in access of 190, with Virat Kohli scoring 89*, improving his T20I average to a staggering 58.60!
Pakistan, well everytime there comes a major ICC tournament, you see a lot of awkward changes in the Pakistani side, be it the 2007 World T20, Shoaib Akhtar being ousted following the controversial dressing room duel with Mohammad Asif, the 2009 World T20, the inclusion of Fawad Alam, who has never been fully utilised though (Fawad Alam has a fantastic test and ODI record, and numbers don’t lie!) but overall that was a fantastic squad which ended up winning the trophy, the 2010 World T20, the inclusion of Khalid Latif, the 2012 World T20, the inclusion of Imran Nazir from nowhere (Imran Nazir has never played to his potentials, given the amount of talent he has been bestowed, he has under achieved big time, he was dropped for a long time for his inconsistency before being added in the 2012 squad literally from nowhere), the 2014 World T20, the inclusion of out of form Kamran Akmal, and the 2016 World T20, the inclusion of Khalid Latif, who never, I repeat never played such an innings in the PSL which should have given him a place in the side, and hence, Pakistan lost 3 out of 4 games, with their only victory against Bangladesh (Well that was a typical Pak-Ban match, the kind of match we all have grown up watching, a strong performance from Pakistan demolishing the Bangladeshi side comprehensively).
Another World event, another South Africa failure, who didn’t even qualify for the semi-finals unlike some of the previous events. AB de Villiers has a below average record in T20Is, a complete contrast to his phenomenal Test and ODI numbers, same goes for South Africa too. There were some glimpses of the typical South Africa good show, when they scored 229 against England, before England stood their ground firmly to chase it down. They won against the strongest of the associates Afghanistan, who gave them a tough time in the field, they lost against the West Indies, and beat Sri Lanka in the last group stage in a dead rubber.
Sri Lanka have been struggling with their new side after the retirement of veterans Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, and their poor performance was always on the cards, and it just when real when they lost comprehensively against the West Indies, England, and South Africa, with also struggling against Afghanistan.
England couldn’t qualify for the quarter-finals in the World Cup 2015, and were not being considered as strong contenders for the trophy this time too, but they displayed some outstanding cricket even after suffering a first game heavy loss to the West Indies.
Under their new captain, New Zealand started the World T20 as favourites (not a common sight for the New Zealand fans), and they played living up to the expectations too, winning all of their group games against India, Australia, Pakistan and Bangladesh before being eliminated in the semi-finals against England, who also under their new captain, were going into the match with lots of expectations.
Australia have never been as threating a T20 side as in ODIs, but they did bring out some good games, losing to New Zealand in a close game, beating Bangladesh and Pakistan, and losing a virtual quarter-final against India courtesy of another Virat Kohli glorious chase.
Bangladesh and Afghanistan qualified for the main round after securing first positions in the qualifying stage in their respective groups. While Bangladesh struggled outside home, after having a fantastic 2015 at home, Afghanistan showed how T20 cricket is here to stay. With steps being taken to globalize cricket, the success of Afghanistan must have overjoyed ICC and cricket lovers.
BUT, the best is yet to come, because “Gayle is a champion, Sammy is a champion, and everybody knows DJ Bravo is a champion”. But the real champion was Carlos Brathwaite, who just stole the final show with 4 humongous strikes in arguably the best ever World T20 final, and again repeating, if you thought and termed the 2007 final as the best final ever, this one equalled it big time, or perhaps went past it to become the greatest. West Indies lost only one game in the tournament and that too against Afghanistan, so does it make Afghanistan the greatest team? Well not at all, but the highlights of that game was Chris Gayle celebrating with the Afghan players, we don’t often see this!
With the next World T20 in 2020, sides may take a rest from T20Is and focus on the ICC Champions Trophy the next year, but will we able to see such a final again? Well hopefully yes, but who knows!
Cheers…!!
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