March 6, 2016:
Riding high on 9 wins from the last 10 Twenty-20 matches, India beat Bangladesh
in Bangladesh, in the final of the Asia Cup, to lift the title for the record
sixth time and entered the sixth edition of the World T20 as favorites.
March 31, 2016:
India were out of the race for the World T20 after losing to West Indies in the
semi-final.
That’s how fickle the game of Cricket, and notably
the 20-over format, are.
Playing in and against
Australia earlier this year, the Men in Blue fought back hard after losing the
5-match ODI series 4-1, and dominated the hosts in the three T20 matches. The linchpin
of the Indian batting line-up Virat Kohli earned the Man of the Series award
for his scores of 90*, 59* and 50. India were No. 8 in the ICC T20 rankings
when this series started and by the time they whitewashed Australia, they found
themselves at the top of the table.
Soon after returning
home, India played three T20 matches against Sri Lanka where they won two and
lost one. The next task was the Asia Cup in Bangladesh and for the first time
in history, the tournament which has always been played in the one-day format,
was revised to T20, keeping in mind the upcoming T20 World Cup. India won five
matches on the trot to bring home the trophy.
And then came the
biggest event of the year – ICC World T20. India were in the Group 2 with
formidable teams like Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Three
teams – India, Australia and South Africa were on the minds of almost all
Cricket experts when asked to predict the final four of the tournament.
India played two
warm-up matches against teams from Group 1. While the first match saw them
beating West Indies by a big margin of 45 runs, they went down against South
Africa falling short of 4 runs in the second match.
March 15 | Nagpur | India Vs. New Zealand
New Zealand had a new
captain in Kane Williamson since their former captain and one of the most
destructive batsmen in the world, Brendon McCullum bid adieu to the game in
February. Before this match, the Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar said
that New Zealand lacked the X-factor in the absence of the aggressive McCullum.
Williamson won the toss
and opted to bat first on a turning wicket. The Indian bowlers bowled well to
restrict the opposition to 126 runs for the loss of seven wickets at the end of
the 20th over. With India’s batting line-up being considered, by many, the best
among all, this looked like a piece of cake for them. By the time the fifth
over of the second innings ended, India were four wickets down for 26 runs. None,
among Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh, could reach
double digits. Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni were then being relied upon
to take the team to victory but could manage scores of only 23 and 30 respectively.
The hosts had been humiliated by the Kiwis as they were all out for 79. India
were thrashed by 47 runs in a
low-scoring match. Williamson read the pitch correctly and played spinners
ahead of front-line pacers, who ended up taking 9 Indian wickets. By now, India
had met New Zealand five times in T20 Internationals and had lost all five
matches.
From here on, even one
more loss in the group stage could make it extremely difficult for India to
reach the semi-finals, as their Net Run Rate was beyond repair. India’s next
match was the most anticipated match for nearly a year against arch rivals
Pakistan.
March 19 | Kolkata | India Vs. Pakistan
Just a few days before
the match, the venue was changed from Dharamsala to Kolkata after a big controversy
regarding security of the Pakistan team. Any match between these two sides is
always a high-pressure situation. The fans of both nations seem to care less
about their team lifting the World Cup and more about not losing to the other
side. In this particular contest, there was more pressure on India because they
had lost their first match. On the other hand, Pakistan had won their first
match convincingly against Bangladesh.
The match was delayed
due to rain and reduced to 18 overs per side. After winning the toss, Dhoni
elected to bowl first. Again the Indian bowlers were on top of their game as
Pakistan posted a blow par total of 118 runs losing 5 wickets. Again it looked
like an easy win for India since the target was not a big one. And again the Indian
openers failed. It was only a few days before this match that Rohit Sharma
labeled Pakistan’s fast bowler Mohammad Amir as a ‘normal bowler’ and said that
the hype around him was unjustified. This remark from Rohit came after Amir
dismissed him for a duck in the Asia Cup. And it happened again. The left-arm
pacer sent Rohit back to the pavilion for just 10 runs. Dhawan consumed 15
deliveries only to score 6 runs followed by a golden duck from Raina. Kohli
then came to the rescue and added 61 runs with Yuvraj Singh. India
won by 6 wickets with 13 deliveries left and Kohli was adjudged the Man of the
Match for his unbeaten 55 runs off 37 balls. India's win-loss record against Pakistan in all World Cup matches was now showing 11-0 with 6 wins in ODIs and 5 in T20Is.
March 23 | Bengaluru | India Vs. Bangladesh
Bangladesh decided to
chase and were looking for their first win of the tournament after losing to
Pakistan and Australia. India lost seven wickets to score 146 runs in 20 overs.
Bangladesh batsmen moved towards the target steadily as India dropped four
catches. It was down to 17 needed off 12 balls when Dhoni asked Jasprit Bumrah
to bowl the 19th over. The young pacer did a fantastic job giving
away just 6 runs, which meant Bangladesh required 11 from the final over with
four wickets in hand. Hardik Pandya conceded a single off the first ball
followed by two consecutive fours from Mushfiqur Rahim’s willow which silenced
the fans in the stadium. Two to win from
three balls. Rahim went for a big hit and was caught at deep mid-wicket. Two
to win from two balls. Mahmudullah went for a big hit and was caught at deep
mid-wicket. Last ball, Bangladesh still needed two runs. New batsman Shuvagata
Hom swung his bat and missed and immediately set off for a bye. Dhoni collected
the ball and ran in to break the stumps… and India had pulled off a miracle. It
was Bangladesh’s match to lose and they threw it away. India won by one run.
Ravichandran Ashwin was declared the Man of the Match for his spell of 20-2
from 4 overs.
March 27 | Mohali | India Vs. Australia
Both teams had two wins
from three matches. This was the last match of Group 2 and the winner was to
enter semi-finals. New Zealand won all their four matches and had already qualified
from this group. The Aussies elected to bat first and set a target of 161 for
India. Dhoni continued with the same playing eleven in all matches despite some
players failing again and again. And the Indian openers continued with their dismal
performances as Rohit scored 12 and Dhawan scored 13. Raina was out for 10. Kohli
stepped up once again and brought India back in the game with help from Yuvraj
who was struggling with an injured left foot. They added 45 runs before Shane
Watson took a stunning catch to dismiss Yuvraj for 21. When Dhoni walked in,
India required 67 from 36; and they achieved the target with 5 balls to spare. India
won by 6 wickets and was the only Asian team to qualify for semis. Virat Kohli
(82 not out off 51) played, perhaps, one of the best knocks ever witnessed in
T20Is and picked up another Man of the Match award. A major concern for India
was that their batting line-up was heavily dependent on Kohli.
March 31 | Mumbai | India Vs. West Indies
Darren Sammy won the
crucial toss and put India into bat. Yuvraj Singh had been ruled out due to his
injury and Manish Pandey replaced him. Dhawan was dropped and Ajinkya Rahane
was the new opener for India. An opening partnership of 62 runs between Rohit
and Rahane put India in a good position. Rohit (43 off 31) was finally among
runs. Rahane scored 40 off 35. And the go-to guy Virat Kohli was in the form of
his life. He faced 47 deliveries to score 89 runs and remained not out. India’s
scorecard at the end of 1st innings read 192-2. Every Indian fan’s only
worry was Chris Gayle who had the potential to win matches single-handedly for
his team. And every Indian fan celebrated as if India had won the match when
the ball left Jasprit Bumrah’s hand to crash into Gayle’s off-stump. He scored
4 runs. Ashish Nehra sent Marlon Samuels back for 8. Johnson Charles and Lendl
Simmons added 97 runs for the third wicket. Indian bowlers struggled because of
the due. Everyone was going for runs. Dhoni then asked Kohli to bowl. And Kohli
struck with his first ball as he dismissed Charles for 52. But the big-hitting
by West Indian batsmen helped them chase the target in the last over (which was
also being bowled by Kohli) and they were in the World T20 final for the second
time. Andre Russell smashed 43 off 20 balls. Lendl Simmons was the Man of the
Match for his unbeaten 81 off 50 balls. In this innings, he was caught twice when the bowlers over-stepped the
popping crease, and was again caught at the boundary when the fielder stepped
on the rope.
West Indies went on to
defeat England in a thrilling final and became the first team to lift the World
T20 trophy for the second time.
Virat Kohli was named
the Man of the Tournament for
scoring 273 runs in 5 innings at an incredible average of 136.50.
India had a good tournament
and they entertained not just the Indian fans, but everyone across the world. The
inaugural World T20 champions were now to wait another four years to have a
second shot at the trophy.
