Just like the second edition in England the previous year, the third World T20 in the West Indies proved to be an eminently forgettable one for India.
The tournament also ended England’s long wait for an ICC title with man of the series Kevin Pietersen, ironically out of their squad for this year’s biennial event, leading their charge.
Victory for the Paul Collingwood-led side would have tasted that much sweeter because it came against arch-rivals Australia who were the favourites to win the title. Australia had dashed Pakistan’s hope of retaining the title with a come-from-behind win in the semifinals while England had cut short Sri Lanka’s journey in last four.
Though MS Dhoni and company got off to a blazing start, vanquishing both minnows Afghanistan and the mighty South Africa in their preliminary matches, they were quite listless in the next stage that decided the semifinal spots. Placed alongside hosts West Indies, Sri Lanka and Australia in the second phase of the meet, India failed to pick up a single win to finish at the bottom of their group. In fact, India were the only team not to register a victory among the eight teams that qualified after the preliminary group rounds. Suresh Raina’s century against the Proteas was the only highlight of India’s campaign as their chinks against short-pitched deliveries were exploited once again even on the flat tracks in the Caribbean.
Their stay in the West Indies was also marred by off-field fracas at a pub in St Lucia where a few Indian players were involved in a brawl with some inebriated heckling fans. The Indian origins from the USA were apparently unhappy with India’s poor performance in the tournament. The incident forced the BCCI to issue a show cause notice to some of the Indian players including Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan while Ravindra Jadeja tendered an apology to the Indian board.
