Now that the dust has settled on Sri Lanka's maiden World Twenty20 triumph in Bangladesh, leg-spinners across the world can raise a toast to a craft that shone against a barrage of power-hitting over the past three weeks.
India stormed into the final of the ICC World T20 with a resounding six-wicket victory over South Africa in the second semi-final, in Mirpur, on Friday night. Chasing South Africa's competitive total of 173, India, led by a scintillating unbeaten 76 by Virat Kohli, completed the task with five deliveries to spare and reach their second World T20 final.
Riding on a superb unbeaten run in the ongoing World Twenty20, India dislodged Sri Lanka to clinch the top rung in the ICC rankings.
Even as Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his boys launch a fresh campaign for the title, a look at the best Indian batting in the tournament.
Don the selector's hat and pick the best possible eleven to take on the might of Pakistan in Friday's World T20 match.
Watch out for Shahid Afridi's pyrotechnics against Ravichandran Ashwin's variations, Umar Gul's pace against Virat Kohli's bravado and Saeed Ajmal's guile against Mahendra Singh Dhoni's flair.
The second ball of the opening over stunned Healy as Shikha bowled a ball that moved quite a distance after pitching outside off and then swung in considerably to hit the top of middle stump.
Pakistan's cricket authorities are maintaining a diplomatic stance on the national team's participation in the forthcoming Asia Cup and World T20 in Bangladesh early next year, but chances of a pull-out loom large.
The Pakistani cricket authorities might be maintaining a diplomatic stance on their national team's participation in the forthcoming Asia Cup and World T20 events in Bangladesh, to be held early next year, but chances of a pullout loom large.
Veteran pace spearhead Jhulan Goswami made a comeback in the India women's ODI squad for the tour of England, while hard-hitting Women's T20 Challenge sensation Kiran Navgire earned her maiden India call-up in the shortest format.
The International Cricket Council said on Thursday it may consider increasing the number of participating teams in the World Twenty20 while reducing the number in the 50-over World Cup.
Images from the second semi-final in the WT20, between Australia and Pakistan, in St Lucia, on Friday.
Spin legend Bishan Singh Bedi, reflecting on the Indian team's dismal showing in the WT20, says the IPL has done more harm than good to the country's cricket.
India's batting sensation Virat Kohli was on Monday named captain of the ICC World Twenty20 team of the tournament, which also featured veteran seamer Ashish Nehra.
Pakistan's flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi has hit out at disgraced former captain Salman Butt for criticising his performance in the World Twenty20 in a TV show, saying that a player who "tainted the name of the country" should not have been hired as an expert.
Facts and figures for the World Twenty20 final between England and West Indies at Eden Gardens on Sunday: World T20 head-to-head: Played: 4 - West Indies wins 4, England wins 0 All T20 head-to-head: Played: 13 - West Indies wins 9; England wins 4
The man who replace injured all-rounder Yuvraj Singh at the business end of 2016 World T20 is Karnataka batsman Manish Pandey. In his last game for India, the 26-year-old scored a match-winning century against Australia Down Under . Back in the mix as a specialist batsman, Manish Pandey is keen to deliver at the biggest stage. "It feels really nice to be back in the Indian team," Pandey told BCCI.TV. "After that tour in Australia, I had some time off, but I knew that the IPL was coming up and I was always prepared for the next big opportunity that would come my way. "I was told that I would be the standby for the T20 World Cup, so I had even more motivation to train harder and work towards my game. It is very unfortunate for Yuvraj Singh to get injured. Individually it is a good achievement for me to comeback and be a part of the World Cup side. It is a good feeling altogether," he added.
Satisfied with England's campaign in the ICC World Twenty20 so far, captain Eoin Morgan said every player in the side has showcased versatility during the tournament, making the side a "powerful" unit heading into Wednesday's semi-final against New Zealand.
West Indies edged out South Africa by three wickets in their World Twenty20 Super 10 thriller on Friday at Nagpur to book their spot in the semi-finals from Group One. Requiring nine runs off the last over, all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite smashed a six off Kagiso Rabada to seal a famous victory for the Caribbean side. The Proteas are most-likely knocked out of the tournament and will now have to beat Sri Lanka by a handsome margin and hope that England lose to them on Saturday to qualify for the semi-finals.
Australian Simon Taufel will officiate in Sunday's World Twenty20 summit clash between Sri Lanka and West Indies -- his last assignment as an ICC Elite panel umpire.
Leg-spinner Sune Luus grabbed five wickets for just eight runs in a sensational bowling spell as South Africa crushed Ireland by 67 runs in their second group match of the Women's World Twenty20 cricket tournament in Chennai on Wednesday.
Familiar batting woes came back to haunt the Indian women's cricket team as it lost by a run to arch-rivals Pakistan in a low-scoring thriller in ICC World Twenty20's group stage in Galle on Monday. The defeat saw the Indians finish winless.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee assured the organisers to provide foolproof safety and security arrangements for the final match on April 3.
Away from the hype surrounding the men's tournament, the Women's World Twenty20 will start in Galle on Wednesday but India's campaign will kick off a day later when they take on Australia on Thursday.
The batting legend said India was were outplayed in the World Twenty20 tournament in England.
Afghanistan scripted a new story in annuls of cricketing history after qualifying for the World T20 tournament proper on Saturday.
Unbeaten fifties by Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan gave hosts Sri Lanka a nine-wicket victory over the West Indies in their first warm-up match ahead of the World Twenty20, in Colombo, on Thursday. In another match, Ireland proved too good for Zimbabwe, winning by 54 runs.
The uncertainty over Pakistan's participation in the World Twenty20 finally ended on Friday after the country's cricket team received government clearance to travel to India following assurances of security from the host nation.
Debutants Oman dished out a resolute batting effort to register a nerve-wracking, two-wicket win over experienced Ireland in their Group A qualifying match of the ICC World Twenty20, in Dharamsala on Wednesday.
The last-minute shifting of the India-Pakistan World T20 match to Kolkata may result in Pakistani fans having a tough time in procuring visa for the March 19 encounter.
The sixth edition of the World T20 cricket tournament is beginning in Nagpur on Tuesday with two qualifying matches being played. In the opening game, 13th-ranked Zimbabwe will take on 14th-ranked Hong Kong in Group B at 3 p.m. In the second match, also in Group B, 9th-ranked Afghanistan and 11th-ranked Scotland will clash at the same venue later in the evening at 7.30 p.m. Qualifying matches of Group A will be played at Dharamsala on Wednesday. The second round of the tournament, known as Super 10, will kick off on 15th March, also in Nagpur, when India go head to head with New Zealand in Group B. The other teams in Group B are Pakistan and Australia. They will be joined by the qualifying team.
India squandered a rollicking start and lost the plot towards the end as they went down to New Zealand by nine runs in a warm-up match ahead of the World Twenty20 at Lord's on Monday. Chasing 171 for victory, India rode on sterling knocks from Rohit Sharma (36), Suresh Raina (45) and Ravindra Jadeja (41 not out) to cruise to what seemed an imminent win before eventually ending up with 161 for six in their 20 overs.
The threat of West Indies being forced to field a second string side at the World Twenty20 was averted on Sunday when 12 of 13 players in the original squad signed the contracts which had caused a standoff with the board.
Former captain Sunil Gavaskar feels including injury-prone pacer Mohammed Shami in India's Tewnty20 World Cup squad is a bit of a risk but the team announced by the Board's selection committee, on Friday, has "terrific balance".
A poor showing by Misbah-ul- Haq, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Shane Watson and Lasith Malinga also cost their teams dear in previous editions of the Twenty20 marquee event.
Chasing a modest 131 for victory, Sri Lanka won with 13 balls to spare. A look at key statistics from the World T20 final.
Images from the World T20 semi-final between India and South Africa, in Mirpur, on Friday.
Former South African batsman HD Ackerman has said that the team's familiarity with the Indian bowlers due to their exposure to the Indian Premier League (IPL) may be an advantage for them in the semi-final of the World Twenty20 on Friday.
As South Africa's spinners prepared to counter a formidable Indian line-up in the ICC World T20 semi-finals, they had a pleasant surprise at Wednesday's nets session. Legendary leg-spinner Shane Warne came over to hand them tips ahead of Friday's second semi-final.
Holders West Indies sailed into the World Twenty20 semi-finals after Dwayne Bravo's power-hitting and Samuel Badree's lethal spin bowling fashioned a comprehensive 84-run victory over 2009 champions Pakistan on Tuesday. A look at key statistics from the match.
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