Sportskeeda Cricket Awards 2016: T20I Team of the Year

After struggling through slumber in 2015, T20s went into beast mode in 2016. A World T20 in the subcontinent was a carnival in itself. Add to that the IPL, and several of its clones across the world: fans were treated to an absolute feast throughout the year. Even the 50-over Asia Cup shrunk to 20-overs a side: T20s in the USA were the cherry on the cake.With heavy doses of T20Is being injected in international fixtures, teams have started identifying 20-over specialists who are tailor-made for the game. India managed to play loads of T20s this year: starting with the Australia series, through the Asia Cup, the World T20 and finally the T20s in Zimbabwe and the US.

The value of a combined team effort is undervalued in T20s: Most people believe that the shortest format runs only on individual performances, with a few top players making the bulk of the team. Yet, an IPL winning team like Sunrisers Hyderabad is a prime example of how a unit can fuse to devastating effect, combining small contributions from each of the players to paint a big picture.

Despite a cash crunch and tiffs between the players and the board, T20 cricket boomed in the Caribbean, breaking the roof with this year’s CPL. The ‘Champions’ seemed to be the only team that gave a rampant India team a run for their money in 2016.

World T20 2012? Check.

World T20 2016? Check.

T20I series in the US? Check.

Sportskeeda T20I Team of the Year? Let’s find out.

Fan voting:

The top five teams of the year were chosen for the polling. Responses came pouring in huge numbers in the 24-hour window on the Sportskeeda Facebook pages.

We sat down to reflect on the year passed by, gauging the performance of the five teams and combining it with the response received from the online poll.

And, we had a clear favourite...

Here's a comprehensive take on the performance of each of the teams:

#5 New Zealand

The Black Caps looked like the team to beat in 2016, maintaining an 80% win percentage at the end of the year. However, the voting pipelines went dry for the Kiwis.

At fifth place are perennial dark horses in any format, the Kiwis, who didn’t play too many T20s in 2016. They started off with back to back series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, both of which ended in the Kiwis’ victory. They managed to down India in their World T20 fixture, and looked like the team to beat in the tournament, but stumbled against England in the semi-finals, bringing an abrupt end to their campaign that had a run of four consecutive wins until then.

In all, they played ten matches, winning eight of them and ending with the highest winning percentage amongst all international teams this year.

Matches	Won	Lost	Tied	No Result	Win %age
10	8	2	0	0	80%

#4 Afghanistan

This lion-hearted team punched way above their weight in 2016. They lost on the big stage, but won a lot of hearts.

The heartwarming journey of the battle-torn nation to rise from sub-standard infrastructure and little support to make a mark of their own is the story of this year. They played 12 matches, winning eight out of them and ending with the second best win percentage amongst all nations in 2016. They had had a super 2015 as well, losing just two out of their eleven fixtures.

Although they lost to Sri Lanka, South Africa and England in the main group, their efforts were lauded round the world. They had started off at Division 5 in 2008, and have managed to take giant strides to reach where they are right now.

Matches	Won	Lost	Tied	No Result	Win %age
12	8	4	0	0	66.66

#3 South Africa

Yet another year when South Africa showed sparks of brilliance, but ended up crumbling like a biscuit dipped in tea

With the promise to set things right after a heartbreaking 2015, the Proteas blew hot and cold in the shortest format throughout 2016. They whitewashed England in the 2-match series, but went down to Australia 2-1 in the very next one.

Currently placed second in the T20I rankings, South Africa won five out of the nine T20s they played, but losses against England and West Indies hurt their chances early in the World T20, and they eventually crashed out after the group stages.

Matches	Won	Lost	Tied	No Result	Win %age
9	5	4	0	0	55.55

#2 West Indies

The three-match whitewash against Pakistan towards the end of the year is perhaps the only reason why West Indies isn’t the team of the year.

West Indian cricket might be going through a lean phase as far as Test cricket is concerned, but the unit suddenly transforms into world beaters when they hear the word ‘T20s’. Known to possess one of the best players in the craft, they are the most sought-after in T20 leagues around the world.

They managed to win another World T20, the victory seeming sweeter because of the underlying fights with the WICB over contractual issues. A gutsy team effort managed to push away a resounding Indian team in the semis, and a certain Carlos Brathwaite became a hero in the finals against England.

They shed off the ignominy of a Test series defeat by edging past India in the T20 series in Florida. However, they slipped badly in the three-match series against Pakistan, failing to win a single match.

Matches	Won	Lost	Tied	No Result	Win %age
11	6	4	0	1	60

#1 India

The fans’ response was overwhelmingly in favour of the Indian team, with MS Dhoni & Co. receiving 73% of the votes.

Virat Kohli carried the Indian team like a superhero to the semis of the World T20, dishing out a domination rarely seen with such consistency by a single player. They started off the year with a 3-0 whitewash of the Australian team, following it with a 2-1 win against Sri Lanka in a one-off T20 series.

The Asia Cup win served as an ideal platform to go the whole hog in the World T20, but the juggernaut was stopped by eventual winners West Indies in the semi-finals. A series defeat in Florida, by the smallest of margins, was the only dent in an authoritative year that culminated with a 2-1 win against Zimbabwe. In 2015, they had played five T20Is, managing just a solitary win.