The time has come for the Indian fans to get their voices and vuvuzela's out for the women's team, who will be playing in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup in South Africa, starting on February 10, 2023. India kick off their tournament on Sunday, February 12, against Pakistan, with their other games coming against West Indies (Wednesday, February 15), England (Saturday, February 18) and Ireland (Monday, February 20).
This is the first time since 2007 that the T20 World Cup — Men's or Women's — is being held in South Africa. This might bode well for the Women in Blue, given India's prolific history in the country when it comes to ICC tournaments.
Here, we look at the two other ICC tournaments that India have won in this country and the one in which India reached the final but lost in what was a very competitive match.
Men's T20 World Cup 2007 Winner
The first-ever T20 World Cup (Men's and Women's) took place in 2007 and is considered among the greatest achievements of the Indian cricket team. Reeling from a poor 2007 ODI World Cup performance, a completely revamped side made the long trip to South Africa led by MS Dhoni.
It was a straightforward run to the Super 8s for India, with the challenge of Pakistan and Ireland in their group. After a washout against Scotland, they beat bitter rivals Pakistan to make it to the Super 8s. But then they lost the first game of the Super 8s to New Zealand, the team bounced back very well to beat South Africa and England, to top their Group and then bested Australia and Pakistan to seal the ultimate trophy.
Men's U19 ODI Cricket World Cup 2020 Runners-up
Led by Priyam Garg, the 2020 U19 Men's ODI Cricket World Cup side were favourites to lift the trophy for the third time in four editions of the tournament. They romped to wins over Sri Lanka, Japan and New Zealand to top their group, and then beat top sides like Australia and Pakistan to reach the final of the competition.
However, their loss to Bangladesh in the final of the competition is considered by many as one of the biggest upsets in youth cricket. The side with top players like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Varma were silenced as they were dismissed for just 177 runs. Bangladesh were set a revised target of 170 runs to be chased down in 42.1 overs due to rain, which was easily done by their opponents.
