From Bowl-Outs To Batting Brilliances, The Epic Journey Of The ICC T20 World Cup

Ahead of the forthcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, we cast our minds back in time and revisit the previous iterations of the wonderful tournament that has played an instrumental role in bolstering the T20 revolution the game has seen. Beginning as an unknown commodity back in 2007, the competition has, over time, transformed from the World T20 to the T20 World Cup.

Played biannually, it is now one of the most prestigious titles contested in the world cricket calendar.

The inaugural edition of the tournament began in 2007, officially called the ‘World T20.’ Played in South Africa, the competition featured the then 10 ICC full members and leading associates, Kenya and Scotland.

A thrill-a-ball competition that ran for three weeks, the first-ever

World T20 saw India and Pakistan make amends for their disastrous group-stage exit at the ICC World Cup in the Caribbean earlier that year.

India made the final of the competition after an exciting run, including their famous ‘bowl out’ in Durban and Yuvraj Singh’s memorable six sixes versus England’s Stuart Broad, before Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men lifted the crown by beating Pakistan in Johannesburg.

Two years later, Pakistan avenged their loss with a magnificent run in England and bagged home the prized silverware with their sensational triumphs over South Africa in the semi-final and Sri Lanka in the final at Lord’s.

Younis Khan & co outbowled each of their opposition, with the likes of Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal and Umar Gul playing massive roles at critical junctures.

To avoid a clash with the scheduled 2011 World Cup in the subcontinent, the ICC organised the next edition of the World T20 in the West Indies only ten months later. In a hard-fought tournament, England came out triumphant by beating their Ashes rivals Australia in the final in Barbados.

England reaped the rewards for thinking out of the box and picking their white-ball specialists. It was their great Kevin Pietersen, who showed his remarkable range and finished as the player of the tournament.

Spin ruled the roost as the competition moved to the subcontinent in 2012, with Sri Lanka playing host. The Lankan Lions used their great expertise of the conditions to dominate most of their campaign.

But it was the West Indies, which rallied to the title on the back of their dangerous T20 powerhitters – the likes of Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Marlon Samuels, Andre Russell – and also the match-winning bowling trio of Dwayne Bravo, Samuel Badree and Sunil Narine.

The Calypso Kings beat the Sri Lankans in the final at Colombo.

After a trio of disappointing campaigns, India came back hard in Bangladesh at the 2014 edition. Dhoni & co bossed their run in the Super 10 round, beating West Indies, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Australia before also winning over the South Africans in the semi-final.

But they stumbled badly in the final against the Lankans, who lifted the title after coming out unscathed from their group versus England, South Africa, New Zealand and the Netherlands.

Ace India batter Virat Kohli earned the player of the tournament for his incredibly consistent run.

The Indian batting legend continued from where he left off at the 2016 edition in India. Playing in front of the home crowds, Kohli showed his ability to rise under pressure as he blazed a few memorable knocks against Pakistan, Australia and the West Indies.

The other Indian batters, however, failed to raise their game similarly as India slipped in the semis versus the eventual champions, West Indies. New Zealand upsetting India on a turning pitch in Nagpur, India snatching a victory from the jaws of defeat versus Bangladesh, England chasing down 230 versus South Africa and Carlos Brathwaite hitting 4 sixes off Ben Stokes to win the final in Kolkata were the other highlights of the tournament.

After a five-year hiatus (due to scheduled congestion and Covid-19), in 2021, the ICC T20 World Cup was held in the UAE and Oman. The tournament carried a sad vibe for Indian fans, who saw the Kohli-led Indian side lose to Pakistan for the first time in a World Cup clash and also suffer a defeat to New Zealand before facing an early exit.

Pakistan, who enjoyed an unbeaten run in the group, lost a thriller in the semi-final to Australia. The Aussies finally won the one trophy that had eluded them by beating their Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand in the final.

The Kangaroos, however, failed to live up to the expectations when the T20 World Cup reached Down Under in 2022. They couldn’t make the semis. The rain-marred tournament is best remembered for the grand finish in the fixture between India and Pakistan at MCG, as Kohli only enriched his legend and legacy by winning the cliff-hanger for his team.

His iconic six straight down the ground against pacer Haris Rauf is etched in memories. India, however, once again failed to reclaim the title after losing to eventual champions England badly in the semi-final at Adelaide.

England defeated Pakistan in the final, who had reached the semis thanks to a big favour from the Netherlands. The Dutch pulled an upset for the ages versus South Africa.

In 2024, the T20 World Cup expanded to 20 teams for the first time as India and South Africa played like wounded tigers and produced a blockbuster finale in Barbados. India transformed their approach with the bat under skipper Rohit Sharma and achieved a winning run in the first round as well as the Super 8 before beating England in the semi-final.

But as the Proteas spirit shone bright for much of the summit clash, the Men in Blue looked destined to face yet another gut-wrenching loss in an ICC final. With 30 needed off 30, the South Africans were overwhelming favourites.

However, a gigantic turnaround saw Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya bag an unbelievable heist by 7 runs.