Team India will look to defend their T20 World Cup title in the upcoming edition, which begins on February 7. India and Sri Lanka will co-host the tournament, staging 55 matches across eight venues—five in India and three in Sri Lanka—before the grand final on March 8.
The Men in Blue have lifted the T20 World Cup twice. Under MS Dhoni’s innovative leadership, India captured the inaugural ICC title in South Africa in 2007. The side then clinched the 2024 edition in the USA and West Indies, riding a dominant campaign under Rohit Sharma and finishing the tournament unbeaten.
India will now eye a third crown in the upcoming edition. Ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup, we revisit the Men in Blue’s five finest moments from the ICC event across nine appearances.
5. Team India whitewash Pakistan in bowl-out during 2007 T20 World Cup
India and Pakistan have produced many classic encounters over the years, but the 2007 T20 World Cup group match in Durban stood apart. The teams finished the tense contest in a tie and then decided the result through a bowl-out—a format the ICC later replaced with the Super Over.
The Men in Blue decimated Pakistan 3-0 in the bowl-out. India used Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Robin Uthappa, and all three struck the stumps. Pakistan opted for Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi, but incredibly, all three failed to hit the stumps.
4. Virat Kohli’s brutal attack on Haris Rauf at the MCG in 2022
Virat Kohli has played several memorable chase knocks for India, but his epic 82* off 53 balls against Pakistan at a packed Melbourne Cricket Ground in the 2022 T20 World Cup ranks among his finest. The defining phase of the innings was Kohli’s demolition of Haris Rauf in a pulsating contest.
Chasing 160, India slipped to 31-4 before recovering to 129-4 after 18 overs, with Pakistan still in control. Kohli then produced two breathtaking sixes off the final two balls of Rauf’s 19th over—one straight back over the bowler’s head and the other flicked over fine leg. Rauf’s stunned expression told the story as India went on to win a last-ball thriller.
3. Yuvraj Singh’s sensational six sixes in 2007
Renowned for his explosive hitting, Yuvraj Singh created history during the inaugural 2007 T20 World Cup by smashing six sixes in an over against England pacer Stuart Broad in Durban. Fired up after an exchange with Andrew Flintoff, Yuvraj took it out on the young bowler.
Broad delivered the 19th over, and Yuvraj sent the first over cow corner, the second over backward square leg, the third over extra cover and the fourth—a full toss—over backward point. The fifth sailed over midwicket and the sixth over wide mid-on. Yuvraj raced to a 12-ball fifty and was eventually dismissed for a breathtaking 58 off 16.
2. Suryakumar Yadav’s brilliant catch in 2024 T20 World Cup final
It was a T20 World Cup final packed with nerve-shredding moments, but among them all, Suryakumar Yadav’s boundary-line catch to dismiss David Miller will be remembered above everything else.
With South Africa chasing 177 and needing 16 runs from the final over, Miller struck a wide full toss from Hardik Pandya straight down the ground. Suryakumar sprinted in from wide long-on, took the catch cleanly, cleverly flicked the ball back inside the ropes before his momentum carried him over, and then regained control to complete what is widely regarded as one of the greatest catches in T20 World Cup history.
1. MS Dhoni, Joginder and Sreesanth combine to sink Pakistan in 2007
MS Dhoni’s famed Midas touch was on full display in the unforgettable 2007 T20 World Cup final against Pakistan in Johannesburg. Chasing 158, Pakistan required 13 runs from the last over with just one wicket in hand. Despite having other options, Dhoni trusted the unfancied Joginder Singh to bowl the final over.
Misbah-ul-Haq smashed Joginder’s second ball, a juicy full toss, for six straight down the ground. But the very next delivery sealed history. Attempting a cheeky scoop over short fine leg, Misbah popped the ball straight up. A nervy Sreesanth settled under it and held on, as Dhoni and his men etched an iconic chapter in World Cup folklore.
