India chases historic title defence at home

The Indian team has forged one of the most dominant runs in T20 cricket and enters the World Cup as favourites

- Deepti Patwardhan

Nothing succeeds like success. The Indian men’s T20I team is a living example of that as they have gone from strength to strength after capturing the 2024 T20 World Cup in Barbados.

That World Cup win was a defining triumph for a team that long yearned success in a big ICC tournament but seemed to stumble at the final stages. Before June 2024, India’s wait for a World Cup had stretched for almost 13 years, the wait for a T20 World Cup had been even longer—India had not claimed the biennial trophy since the inaugural 2007 event.

Still smarting from the heartbreaking 2023 ODI World Cup loss, where a dominant Indian team was brought down by old nemesis Australia in the final, the Men in Blue were on a mission. Even as cricket broke new ground as a World Cup was held on American soil (the US jointly hosted the event with the West Indies) for the very first time, India became the first team to win the T20 World Cup without losing a single match. In a close final, India overcame a few nervy moments before defeating South Africa by seven runs.

Once the match was won, India’s bravado melted away, laying bare the raw emotions that had fuelled their campaign. The championship healed hurt pride, washed away over a decade of disappointment.

It was crowning glory for the team, and for the two stalwarts who had shaped and sustained the team for over 10 years: Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. While it was the first World Cup triumph for captain Sharma, it was a full-circle moment for Kohli, who was a rising star during India’s 2011 win and had carried Sachin Tendulkar on his shoulders for a victory lap around the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. This time, it was Kohli, who was carried on teammates’ shoulders in Barbados. The two men decided to quit at the top, announcing their retirement from the shortest format of the game after the tournament to infuse an end-of-the-era glow to the triumph.