Team India’s exciting journey in the World T20 in 8 pictures

New Delhi: After a sensational performance in the T20 series against Australia in January 2016 and then holding the Asia Cup for the sixth time in February, Team India entered the World T20 Championship as favourites to lift the title for the second time. India’s road to the semi finals was full of drama and excitement. Every match the hosts won turned out to be an adrenaline-pumping one. The journey, however, came to a tragic end when Men in Blue faced an unexpected defeat against West Indies in the semi finals at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on March 31. Lets take a look at the Team India’s road to the semi-finals.

India vs New Zealand, March 15, Nagpur: The favourites were brought down to earth in their very first group stage match against New Zealand in which the hosts faced an embarrassing 47-run defeat. Chasing an easy target of 167, India only managed to put 79 runs on the board. Kiwi spinner trio of Michael Santner, Nathan McCullum ans Ish Sodhi picked up nine wickets.

India vs Pakistan, March 19, Kolkata: The high-voltage clash against the arch-rivals Pakistan was affected by rain and the over count was reduced to 18. On the difficult wicket of Eden Gardens, India managed to restrict Pakistan to 118/5. Chasing a modest total of 119, the hosts were at one time struggling at 23 for 3 when Virat Kohli came to rescue. With his heroic inning of 55 not out from 37 balls, Team India registered an easy 6-wicket win over Pakistan.

India vs Bangladesh, March 23, Bangalore: In the crucial match against Bangladesh, India could manage only 146 for 7 on the slow track of Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The match turned out to be a nail-biting one when Bangladesh needed 11 runs from the last over. After smashing two early fours in Hardik Pandya’s final over, they lost three consecutive wickets with India winning the match with just 1 run.

India vs Australia, March 27, Mohali: With his memorable 82-run innings from 51 balls, Virat Kohli single-handedly led Men in Blue into the semi finals of the World T20. In reply to Australia’s 160 for 6, India struggled at 49 for 3 in the eighth over. Kohli once again came to India’s rescue. His match-winning inning of 82 runs included nine fours and two sixes.

India vs West Indies, Semi finals, March 31, Mumbai: Title aspirants Men in Blue were finally knocked out of the World T20 Championship after facing a heart-breaking defeat against West Indies in the semi finals. With Kohli flamboyant innings of 89 not out from just 47 balls, India made a challenging 192 for 2. The spirited West Indies, however, successfully chased the target with seven wickets and two balls to spare, thereby entering the finals of the World T20 with England and putting an end to India’s journey in the tournament. Lendle Simmons, playing in the tournament for the first time, smashed an unbeaten 82 runs off 51 balls.

Virat Kohli: Throughout the World T20 Championship, Indian batting seemed to depend upon the run-machine Virat Kohli. He turned out to be the ‘rescue man’ for the hosts, be it against Australia, West Indies or Pakistan. Kohli made 273 runs in five innings with an average of 136.50 and a strike rate of 146.77. No reason why he is now compared to the batting legends of the world!

Mahendra Singh Dhoni: India has played 16 T20Is in 2016 in which they have won. Dhoni has captained in 67 ODI matches that include 39 wins, 26 defeats, one tie and one no result. Team’s win percentage in ODIs under his captaincy is 59.84 – the highest among all the Indian captains till date.