1. This West Indies team is the greatest in T20I history
West Indies became only the second team in the World T20’s nine-year history to win the tournament twice.
Eight members of Sunday’s victorious 11 played in the 2012 final, which makes this West Indies side simply the greatest T20 International outfit.
It is fair to say West Indies was not the favourite this time. Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine were absent; the team lacked a reliable, consistent batsman; and in the year leading up to the tournament, West Indies had played only two T20Is, and both more than four months before. Yet new heroes continued to emerge, game after game.
Darren Sammy was serious when he said he saw 15 champions in his team. West Indies still has much catching up to do in ODI and Test cricket (it will not feature in next year’s Champions Trophy). But this is a brilliant T20 unit.
2. Nothing inspires like the desire to avenge a slight
Perhaps too much is read into these things, but the desire to avenge slights — real or imagined — can be a powerful motivational tool. Especially in West Indies cricket. Darren Sammy’s repeated utterances suggested he was fostering a siege mentality in the squad — “We think it’s us against the world,” he said once; drew parallels with the tale of David and Goliath another time; and frequently spoke of the experts not giving them a chance.
Mark Nicholas’s words, perhaps not intended to ridicule West Indies, were interpreted precisely as such. And then there were the differences with the board, seemingly eternally irreconcilable.
Marlon Samuels, who is never short of fights to fight, found something to get worked up about again. All this angst fuelled the West Indian campaign (and the fiery celebrations that followed its conclusion).
3. Virat Kohli is India’s beating heart
It did not require the World T20 to drive home this truth, but this Indian team now rests on Kohli’s shoulders.
The player of the tournament, Kohli made 273 runs at an average of 136.5, seeing the team home against Australia and Pakistan. He scored 40.8 per cent of all the runs India’s batsmen managed. And that’s the worrying part.
Kohli’s excellence does not hide the other gaping holes: Shikhar Dhawan, Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina did not look like world-beaters at any stage. Of the four semifinalists, no side seemed more reliant on one individual than India. India’s limited-over batting is clearly in need of freshening up.
4. England isn’t all that bad
Four and a half hours into England’s World T20 campaign, the dream seemed over. Defeat to the West Indies, and then a target of 230 to chase.
But, Jason Roy and Joe Root lit up the Wankhede Stadium with a thrilling batting display that stunned South Africa.
It exemplified England’s stated approach of being brave and fearless. Root was excellent throughout, scoring 249 runs at an average of nearly 50, a run of scores capped off by a splendid half-century in the final. In the likes of Root, Roy, Jos Buttler, and David Willey, England has the makings of a fine limited-over side.
5. Afghanistan promises much
Afghanistan may have only claimed the one big scalp, but it more than put up a fight against England, Sri Lanka and South Africa.
Mohammad Shahzad, Samiullah Shenwari, Asghar Stanikzai and Mohammad Nabi won hearts with their stirring efforts at the World T20.
Easily the best Associate team around — it sits above Bangladesh in the ICC’s T20 rankings, for what it’s worth — Afghanistan needs support and encouragement to ensure it does not fade away like Kenya (a World Cup semifinalist in 2003). A training base in India is a good start; a strong Afghanistan team would be a welcome presence in world cricket.
