England’s brave new world and a Kohli classic

If there was one tournament that symbolised the tectonic shift in T20 cricket, it was perhaps this.

- Shantanu Srivastava

Champions England celebrate with the 2022 World Cup trophy.

(GETTY)

England, having shown what an unshackled mind could achieve at the 50-over World Cup in 2019, had just started to go on an attacking overdrive in Tests, and it was only a matter of time before the game's shortest format was re-imagined.

Held in Australia just a year after Aaron Finch led them to a maiden trophy, the 2022 T20 World Cup saw Jos Buttler’s England win their second T20 title. That meant England became the first, and so far the only, team to hold the 50-over and 20-over titles — a damning statement of their superiority in white-ball formats.

The 2022 T20 World Cup was a resounding reality check to a number of traditional traits that form the building blocks of the game. Conservatism, the English philosophy boldly stated, could yield results sporadically, but consistent success was paradoxically down to relentless risk-taking.

The paradigm had been turned on its head. England, having infused the freshness that white-ball cricket had been craving, rendered the metrics of averages and runs— the very core of batsmanship — irrelevant. On the field, it translated into an inexorable assortment of big hitters ready to go from the first ball. Only Windies matched them for firepower and intent, but losses to Scotland and Ireland in this tournament meant the Caribbeans were sent home at the group stage itself.