During the early days of T20 cricket, no one had an idea that this 20-over format will become the most popular format of the game. Today, a total of 105 nations have T20 international status given by ICC. Every top cricketing nation has its T20 league. The domination of this format commenced in 2007 with the inaugural World T20. In 2021, the 7th edition of this mega tournament is scheduled to play in India. Here is the list of all men’s T20 World Cup winners.
2007: India is the first name in the T20 World Cup winners List
When ICC approved this format, BCCI had not shown good interest in it. For the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup (then ICC World T20), India had named a very young squad having MS Dhoni as captain. Likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly preferred taking rest. South Africa hosted the 12-team tournament.
Teams were divided into 4 groups of 3 teams each. Rain played a spoilsport for India as their first match with Scotland got abandoned. However, India won their second match against Pakistan in bowl-out and qualified for the last 8. Later India made the way to the semi-final beating South Africa and England. Yuvraj Singh’s six sixes came in the crucial game against Englishmen. India beat Australia in the semi-final and by beating Pakistan in the final became the winner of the first T20 World Cup.
2009 Winner: Pakistan
England hosted the tournament. However, the event was forgettable on for the defending champions India as they lost all 3 matches at super 8. MS Dhoni-led team couldn’t qualify for the semi-final. Pakistan qualified for the 2nd consecutive final by beating South Africa while Sri Lanka beat West Indies in the 2nd semi-final.
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Younis Khan-led Pak was the strongest team in the tournament. They made the final one-sided match as they first bowled out Kumar Sangakkara-led team on 138 and then chased it down in 18.4 overs. Pakistan was the 2nd team to ink their name on the T20 world cup winners list.
2010 World T20 Champion: England
2010 was the year when the inventor of cricket England won the first ICC trophy. West Indies hosted the whole tournament. Australia and England met at the final. Kangaroos gave 147 runs target to Paul Collingwood-led side. They chased it easily in 17 overs with Craig Kieswetter (63) and Kevin Pietersen (47) being their highest scorer.
Kevin Pietersen was named player of the tournament for his consistent performance throughout the world cup. Talking about India, they couldn’t reach the semi-final again. However, Suresh Raina got a hundred during the group stage against South Africa. The southpaw had become the first Indian to get a ton in T20 internationals.
West Indies Won In 2012
Giants of the shortest format West Indies finally got their hands on trophy in 2012. Sri Lanka hosted the 4th event of ICC’s mega event. Again it was a 12-team tournament. Sri Lanka beat Pakistan while Caribbeans outplayed Aussies in the semi-finals. So it was hosts vs West Indies in the final.
In the final, Sri Lanka did well by restricting Darren Sammy’s team on 137 runs. However, Marlon Samuels’ 78 off 56 runs was the highlight of the innings. Luckily for West Indies, Sri Lanka didn’t have a good start as they lost experienced Tilakkaratne Dilshan in 2nd over. The middle-order couldn’t absorb the pressure and the team bowled out at the score of 101.
2014 T20 WC Winner: Sri Lanka
It was the first time in 2014 when ICC increased the participants from 12 to 16. Sri Lanka had made it to the final for the 2nd consecutive time. This time they were playing in front of Bangladesh’s crowd. India was the opponent team who also was playing its 2nd T20 world cup final. MS Dhoni-led side was unbeaten so far in the tournament.
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However, India’s batsmen disappointed in the big match. Yuvraj Singh faced criticism for his knock of 11 runs in 21 balls. Virat Kohli single-handedly took India’s score to 130 runs. As there were not enough runs on the board, bowlers were not able to put pressure on the Sri Lankan side. Lasith Malinga-led team chased the target with 13 balls remaining. Sri Lanka entered their name to the list of T20 world cup winners and became 5th team to do so.
2016 T20 World Cup Winner: West Indies
It was the year when India hosted an ICC T20 World Cup for the first time. Again it was a 16-team tournament. The tournament witnessed many close matches. India, West Indies, England and New Zealand had made it to the semi-finals. First Engalnd beat New Zealand in one sides match, Then West Indies won the 2nd semi-final against India in a nerve-wracking contest.
England and West Indies met in the final at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Both teams were playing their 2nd final with 1 trophy in the bag. So one team was going to win the 2nd title. 19 runs needed in the last over of the match with Carlos Brathwaite on strike and Ben Stokes ready to bowl.
The all-rounder went on to hit 4 consecutive sixes and it was some sort of a miracle for the West Indies to win from such a situation. The Caribbeans bagged the 2nd title and became the most successful team in T20 World Cup history. Here is the complete list of all men’s T20 World Cup winners.
Year | Host | Winner | Runner-up |
2007 | South Africa | India | Pakistan |
2009 | England | Pakistan | Sri Lanka |
2010 | West Indies | England | Australia |
2012 | Sri Lanka | West Indies | Sri Lanka |
2014 | Bangladesh | Sri Lanka | India |
2016 | India | West Indies | England |