Team India start as one of the favourites for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021, which will be skipper Virat Kohli's last assignment in T20 as captain.
It was a new format, and India had a very young team under a new captain but the belief and some spirited performances helped India win the inaugural World T20 in 2007.
Memorable run in 2007
India were going into a multi-nation tournament without the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble under, a newbie Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The average age of the team was 26 and they weren't really considered one of the favourites compared to the likes of Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Pakistan.
India started their campaign with a tied game against the arch-rivals Pakistan, but they won it through the now-scrapped bowl-out rule. They qualified for Super 8 but their start wasn't great losing to New Zealand in a high-scoring thriller. But they came back in nice fashion to beat England and South Africa and qualify for the semi-finals.
India's big game in ICC events has always been against Australia and they faced them in the semis. They defended a huge score of 188 runs against the Aussies and then went on to beat Pakistan again, in the final to clinch the first-ever T20 World Cup.
Dry run in 2009, 2010, 2012
However, the subsequent editions were something to forget for the men in blue as they were knocked out in Super 8s in 2009 and 2010 editions as they couldn't win a single game in three matches of the round, in both of them.
They returned with better results in 2012 as they won a couple of games in the Super 8 against Pakistan and South Africa but they missed out on a spot in the semi-finals to Pakistan on NRR.
The comeback in 2014
But MS Dhoni's men put the disappointment of the three previous seasons behind in 2014 as they came out in smashing form in Bangladesh. In their Group 2 of Super 10, the men in blue won all of their four games against West Indies, Pakistan, Australia and Bangladesh. A Virat Kohli masterclass in the semi-final meant they overcame the South African challenge and met Sri Lanka in the final.
However, some excellent death bowling from Lasith Malinga and co restricted them to a low score and the islanders won their maiden T20 World Cup title resulting in a heartbreak for MS Dhoni and co.
The knockouts jinx since 2016
In the next season too, India got through to the semi-finals in second place losing just one out of their four games. But the rampant West Indies side blew them away on a fabulous Wankhede surface chaisng down a score of 192 runs and eventually were the champions becoming the first team to win the T20 World Cup for the second time.
Since 2013, India haven't won an ICC tournament bowing out of the tournaments in the knockouts. They lost the final in the 2014 T20 World Cup, semi-final in 2015 Cricket World Cup, semi-final in 2016 T20 World Cup, final of 2017 Champions Trophy, semi-final in 2019 World Cup and the final of the inaugural ICC World Test Championship in 2021.
Virat Kohli, who will be leading India in his first and the last T20 World Cup as a captain, will be hoping to make amends and improve on that record and finish his career in T20I captaincy on a high.
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 "World T20 2007 win")
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