India Unstoppable: Can Anyone Stop Them Now
India T20 dominance grows after another major title. With just 2 losses in 34 global matches, rivals face a huge challenge to catch cricket’s new powerhouse.
This time it was India. It had to be India.
Two years ago, the last time, they faltered on the biggest stage.
The burden of expectation, a final at home in front of 100,000 and over a billion people, was scaring them.
They had since ended their trophy drought—first in Barbados in 2024 and then in Dubai last year—but in another home final, would that pressure stop them again?
Extra trains left Mumbai at 4 a.m. as thousands of fans arrived in Ahmedabad. Fans boarded with the same hope.
They were afraid to talk to Australia the night they lost the 50-over World Cup final. At the press conference, only a few questions were asked. When they did ask, they were shooed away.
"It's over, sir," captain Suryakumar Yadav said on Saturday. "It's been three years, sir. Now T20 is here."
This time, the city that brought pain brought joy. If India can win this final, overcoming the one thing that held them back before, what hope do other teams have?
The truth is, India's victory here isn't surprising.
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They faltered in their opening match against the United States and lost to South Africa.
Since then, they've looked like a team that's a surefire favorite to win at home, perhaps one of the best T20 teams in the international game.
Since that defeat to the Proteas, Suryakumar's team has actually won four knockout matches.
In a fit of rage, he scored more than 250 runs three times against Zimbabwe, England, and New Zealand—a feat that had only happened twice in previous T20 World Cups.
In many ways, this is a different India team.
They have Jasprit Bumrah, one of the best fast bowlers of today's time.
Yet former captain Virat Kohli's name still resonates with thousands in the stands.
This is a team devoid of its former superstars. A team that Captain Suryakumar and Coach Gautam Gambhir are inspiring to focus on teamwork.
Suryakumar is also a different kind of leader than those who came before.
He arrived late on the international stage, not debuting until he was 30, and he isn't even the captain of his Indian Premier League (IPL) team.
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It was Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni, and Rohit Sharma who led India to the World Cup—three icons of Indian sports who led with passion.
Suryakumar is now on a high with his victory.
The entire tournament saw contributions from all quarters.
Ishan Kishan kept the campaign on track with two early fifties, before Sanju Samson, who was ruled out due to the death of a teammate before the tournament, scored three more before regaining his place.
Shivam Dube shone with his late-order hitting, and Axar Patel was superb in the field. Abhishek Sharma also returned to form when it mattered most, scoring a fifty in the final amid a difficult tournament.
New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner said, "They are a very good team." "They know how to play in these conditions. They play on a lot of flat wickets against good teams.
"They've shown again that once they get going, they're very difficult to stop."
The task for the rest of the world is to close the large gap India has created at the top of the T20 game.
At first glance, as three-time champions, the first men's team to defend the T20 crown, and the first to win it on home soil, everything seems to be going in their favor.
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A young team, talent honed in the IPL, and the benefit of tournament funding, plus taking home a larger share of the international game's revenue than anyone else.
Winning the T20 World Cup in 2024 ended a 13-year wait for a title and has certainly given them confidence.
India have lost just two out of 34 matches in the last four global white-ball events. Catching them will not be an easy task.
But, as good as they have been here over the past two weeks, others will be as well. They've been good. We need to focus on the tough spots in this tournament.
The West Indies dropped two catches in their loss to India. Harry Brook dismissed Sansom in the semi-final. Things could have been different, or at least that's the hope.
The last three years of global events have been good for India.
It started with the 2023 domestic tournament, which they should have won, followed by the 2024 tournament in the Caribbean on slower pitches.
Then came the Champions Trophy, where all their matches were held in Dubai, and then the tournament, hosted at home and in Sri Lanka.
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The cricket calendar has now shifted away from the subcontinent; the next 50-over World Cup will be played in Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South Africa in 2027. The pitches there will offer pace and bounce.
After that, Australia and New Zealand will host the 2028 T20 World Cup, where fast bowlers will again be essential.
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More depth will need to be found behind Bumrah, while recent difficulties in Test cricket – India has lost at home to South Africa and New Zealand in the last two years – will need some attention.
Between those next two World Cups will be the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, which will be played in the T20 format. This is an event that is already on the players' minds.
Suryakumar said, "Olympic gold and the next T20 World Cup are definitely the next goals."
"Since 2024, the way we have played, we have won three consecutive ICC trophies and we haven't looked back."We want to continue doing this in 2027, 2028, 2029 and never stop."
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