The sixth edition of the World T20 is being played in India at the moment, and I suppose it's common knowledge now that no team has ever won it twice. India, Pakistan, England, West Indies and Sri Lanka have won once each, in the five editions completed so far.
Among the teams which have qualified for the semifinal, only New Zealand have never won a World T20 before. The other three – India, West Indies and England – have one title to their name each.
When India lost their first game against New Zealand, they were on the verge of elimination. They came very close to that when Mushfiqur Rahim struck two fours off two balls from Hardik Pandya in the last over against India. However, due to MS Dhoni’s shrewd captaincy and sthe elf-belief of the Indian players coupled with some luck, India have reserved a berth in the final four once more.
The 2007 World T20 was won by India, and many analysts had declared them as the hot favourites to win again before the tournament began this year. However, following the loss against New Zealand, India’s chances of progressing to the semis were diminished.
But the Indian cricket team bounced back and their fans have termed the defeat against New Zealand a part of the plan to lift the trophy once more, since they started their World T20 2007 main round campaign with a loss to New Zealand too. Though the fans may have been overly optimistic and understandably so, a couple of weeks later, we have witnessed some more similarities in this T20 Cup and the inaugural edition.
Here we take a look at all those similarities starting, with that first defeat.
India lost to New Zealand
India started their Super-8 Round in 2007 with the match against New Zealand, which was the 13th game of that tournament. Interestingly, the 13th match of this tournament was also between New Zealand and India, and it was India’s first in the Super-10.
The Indian side was led by MS Dhoni in both games and the only other player to feature in both was Yuvraj Singh.
New Zealand batted first in that match too, putting up a mammoth total of 190-8 in their 20 overs. India in reply started aggressively with Virender Sehwag making 40 off just 17 balls, but he fell on the last ball of the powerplay with the score at 76.
Once Sehwag's opening partner Gautam Gambhir fell for 51, no one could make a handy enough contribution to take India to victory.
Overall, India fought well and lost the game by just 10 runs. It was not known at that time, but had India lost with a bigger difference, they may not have qualified for the next round due to poor Net Run-Rate.
A left-arm Kiwi spinner took four-for against India
Daniel Vettori was the star performer for the Kiwis in that game against India. The left-arm spinner took 4 while giving only 20 runs in his allotted quota of overs. His 4-20 was the first four-wicket haul of his T20I career and remained the only four-for.
In the game in 2016, Mitchell Santner, another left-arm spinner, took 4-11 which was his first four-wicket haul in a T20I game. Vettori was named the Man of the Match in 2007, while Santner earned it this time.
A Number 3 Indian batsman scored half-century against Pakistan, left-handed Pakistani opener made 17 and Shahid Afridi scored under 10
In both World Cups, Pakistan and India faced each other in the group stage. In 2007, a left-handed Pakistani opener, Salman Butt, made 17 runs from 25 balls. In 2016, Sharjeel Khan opened the innings for Pakistan and made exactly 17 runs, this time from 24 deliveries. Both openers played for half an hour and struck two fours each with no sixes.
In the 2007 match, Robin Uthappa came to bat at number 3 for India and made a half-century. In 2016, this feat was repeated by Virat Kohli who also came in to bat at number 3. Afridi in that game scored 7, while he managed 8 in this one.
India had to win all their games after first loss
After losing their first game in 2007, India had to win the next two games if they wanted to qualify for the semi-final. In this World Cup, India had to do the same i.e. win all the remaining games, to avoid any ifs and buts with regard to the Net Run Rate. India won their remaining games in 2007 World T20 and they have won all the Super-10 games this time around too.
India defeated England and the won against South Africa to reach the semi-final in 2007. This time, they defeated Pakistan, Bangladesh and Australia to book the final berth in the semis.
Last game of the Group Stage was a virtual quarterfinal for India
In 2007, South Africa and India faced each other in the last game of their group. The equation was simple: If India win, they qualify; if South Africa win, they qualify. However, there was a slight difference – South Africa could qualify even if they lost the game by less than 27 runs. In that case, New Zealand would have been knocked out of the tournament.
In 2016, India played their last game of group stage against Australia, and it was a virtual quarterfinal for both sides. No calculations were required this time, with a win meaning qualification and loss, elimination. In both games, the team winning the toss decided to bat first.
India made 153 in the 2007 game against South Africa and a brilliant display of bowling from RP Singh saw South Africa lose the game by 37 runs, and thus the Proteas could not reach the next stage. In this tournament, India defeated Australia to reach the semis and in the process, sent Australia home.
Man of the Match in virtual quarterfinal was a right-handed batsman
Virat Kohli played a fantastic knock last night to take India to the semi-final in this edition of the World T20. He made 82* off just 51 balls and was declared the Man of the Match.
In the 2007 match against South Africa, Rohit Sharma came in the middle order and scored 50* off 40 balls and he was adjudged the Man of the Match. Interestingly, Kohli reached his fifty off exactly 40 balls in this game.
India and New Zealand were the two teams to qualify for the semifinals from the same group
In both tournaments, two teams that qualified for the semifinals from one group were New Zealand and India. However, there is a little difference in the way qualification came about.
In 2007, New Zealand were eagerly waiting for the result of the match between South Africa and India because that game would decide which two teams would get into the semifinals. However, in this event, having won four out of their four matches, New Zealand did not have any worries as they had qualified in the best possible manner.
This is how it has been so far. India are well on course to a second title as far as the ‘signs’ are concerned. The only thing that might have reinforced this scenario was a tie which comes as a blessing when Dhoni is captaining a side in any tournament.
However, these are just predictions at the end of the day; we can only behold what the future holds when the time comes. So now we just have to wait and see.
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