The Indian cricket team is playing their ninth straight T20 World Cup, currently underway in the USA and the Caribbean. After winning the T20 World Cup for the first-time in its inaugural edition in 2007, India are yet to achieve the crowning glory in the shortest format of the game.
During the last 16 years of the T20 World Cup, India have delivered some of the most epic performances, but there have been some poor performances, neither of which the fans or the players involved, will be happy to reminisce about. In this article, SportsTiger looks at the five worst losses for the Indian cricket team in the T20 World Cup history.
10-wicket loss against England in 2022 T20 WC Semi-final
The last time India played a match in the T20 World Cup, it was the semi-final of the 2022 edition at the Adelaide Oval, which they lost by a 10-wicket margin against England. After being put into bat first, India were restricted to 168/6 despite the batting blitz from Hardik Pandya, following which the openers for England, Jos Buttler and Alex Hales, demolished their bowling attack to chase down the target in just 16 overs.
47-run loss against New Zealand in 2016 T20 WC
In the Super 10 Group 2 match of the T20 World Cup 2016, the hosts India bowled exceptionally well to keep New Zealand down to 126/7 with all their main bowlers picking up a wicket each at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur. But in the run chase, the New Zealand spin trio of Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, and Nathan McCullum picked up nine out of ten wickets of the Indian batters, bowling them out for 79 runs in the 19th over.
6-wicket loss against Sri Lanka in 2014 T20 WC Final
The final of the T20 World Cup 2014, which was played at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, saw the Indian cricket team post a below par total of 130/4 despite a very impressive fifty from Virat Kohli. With a tough task to defend a low score, the Indian bowlers started well, putting some serious pressure on Sri Lanka batters, but the experienced Kumar Sangakkara and Thisara Perera weathered the storm before finding a way to take their team over the line with 13 balls to spare.
49-run loss against Australia in 2010 T20 WC
During one of their toughest T20 World Cup campaigns in 2010, Team India ran into an in-form Australian team, who tore them to shreds at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown. After posting a big score of 184/5 with fifties from David Warner and Shane Watson, the Australian bowlers ran riot in front of the Indian batters, reducing them to 50-7 at one stage following which Rohit Sharma played one of the best innings in T20 World Cup history, to reduce the margin of defeat.
10-wicket loss against Pakistan in 2021 T20 W C
In the T20 World Cup 2021, India succumbed to their first defeat in the history of the tournament against Pakistan, in a one-sided contest by 10 wickets. At the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, the Indian batting lineup never got out of the first gear, posting only 151/7 on the board, which was chased inside 18 overs by the Pakistani opening pair of Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan, who scored a fifty each.