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When the T20 World Cup 2021 began, India entered the tournament as favorites. One of the main reason was the current form of their players in the recently concluded IPL season. Not just that, they convincingly won both their warm-up matches against 2 very strong sides – England and Australia, who went on to win the tournament. But their consecutive losses against Pakistan and New Zealand ensured their early exit in the tournament which ruined Virat Kohli’s first and the final T20 World Cup's hopes as a skipper.

Though disappointed, one might consider those 2 forgettable matches as off-days which can happen to anybody but if we consider the stats and records, their journey wasn’t a regular one. Let's have a look at the stats


1. Failed to qualify in the top 4 for the first time since 2012

Since failing in the T20 World Cup 2012 to reach the semi-final, they have made it to the top 4 in each of the ICC tournament making it 7 on the trot which is still a record. The following are their results in ICC Trophies since 2012:-
 
ICC Champions Trophy 2013 (Won)
T20 World Cup 2014 (Finalist)
ICC World Cup 2015 (Semi-Finalist)
T20 World Cup 2016 (Semi-Finalist)
ICC Champions Trophy 2017 (Finalist)
ICC World Cup 2019 (Semi-Finalist)
World Test Championship (Finalist)
T20 World Cup 2021 (Super 12)*


2. Worst T20 World Cup Result

Before this edition, India had never been knocked out from the first stage itself. They have won the trophy, lost the final and lost the semi-final once each and reached the Super 8 thrice, in the 6 editions before. The following describes how India has fared at the T20 World Cup

2007 – (Champions)
2009 – (Round 2)
2010 – (Round 2)
2012 – (Round 2)
2014 – (Runner-up)
2016 – (Semi-Finalist)
2021 – (Super 12)*


3. Worst result for a home side since 2003

Though the tournament was played in UAE, BCCI were the hosts and thus India was considered as the home side. After South Africa, the hosts who failed to make it to the Super 6 in the World Cup 2003, no other side has been knocked out in the first stage itself. It is worth noting that the last 3 ODI World Cups were won by the home sides. The following are the results of the home sides in the World Cups (both ODI and T20I)

World Cup 2007 – West Indies (Round 2)
T20 World Cup 2007 – South Africa (Round 2)
T20 World Cup 2009 – England (Round 2)
T20 World Cup 2010 – West Indies (Round 2)
World Cup 2011 – India (Champions)
T20 World Cup 2012 – Sri Lanka (Runner-up)
T20 World Cup 2014 – Bangladesh (Round 2)
World Cup 2015 – Australia (Champions)
T20 World Cup 2016 – India (Semi-Finalist)
World Cup 2019 – England (Champions)
T20 World Cup 2021 – India (Super 12)

* Note the last 3 World Cups were not hosted by a single nation. So the countries where majority of the matches were played have been considered as hosts here.


4. Worst Result for a former T20 Champion

None of the sides have been knocked out in the first stage of any edition of T20 World Cup after winning the trophy. But this time around we had 3 such teams – India, Sri Lanka and West Indies. The following is the result of the teams following their T20 World Cup triumphs:-
 

5. Consecutive losses after 11 years

It is a known fact that India have dominated in the ICC Tournaments since 2012 but they have never lost 2 games on the bounce since 11 years when they lost 3 games on the trot to Australia, West Indies and Sri Lanka in T20 World Cup 2010.



6. First ever loss to Pakistan in any World Cup



India entered the World Cup unbeaten to their arch-rival Pakistan in any World Cup game across formats. Their loss to Pakistan by 10 wickets ended their 12 matches streak spanning 29 years since 1992. Here is the list of results in all India vs Pakistan matches in all sorts of World Cups

World Cup 1992 Sydney – India won by 43 Runs
World Cup 1996 Bangalore – India won by 39 Runs
World Cup 1999 Manchester – India won by 47 Runs
World Cup 2003 Centurion - India won by 6 Wickets
T20 World Cup 2007 Durban (Group Stage) – Tied, India won by Bowl-Out
T20 World Cup 2007 Johannesburg (Final) - India won by 5 Runs
World Cup 2011 Mohali -  India won by 29 Runs
T20 World Cup 2012 Colombo - India won by 8 Wickets
T20 World Cup 2014 Dhaka - India won by 7 Wickets
World Cup 2015 Adelaide - India won by 76 Runs
T20 World Cup 2016 Kolkata - India won by 6 Wickets
World Cup 2019 Manchester - India won by 89 Runs
T20 World Cup 2021 Dubai* – Pakistan won by 10 Wickets


7. No Man of the Match for Virat Kohli

Since the World Cup 2011, Virat Kohli has won at least a man of the match in all World Cups but unfortunately, he didn’t win a single Player of the Match award in T20 World Cup 2021. Mentioned below are the number of times he has won the award in each of the ICC Trophies post 2011

T20 World Cup 2012 – 2 (vs Afghanistan and Pakistan)
T20 World Cup 2014 – 1 (vs South Africa)
ICC World Cup 2015 – 1 (vs Pakistan)
T20 World Cup 2016 – 2 (vs Pakistan and Australia)
ICC World Cup 2019 – 1 (vs West Indies)
T20 World Cup 2021 – None*
 

8. Rohit Sharma not an opener

Since establishing himself as a permanent opener for Team India in 2013, Rohit Sharma has opened for India in all matches in ICC Tournaments since Champions Trophy 2013. But after India lost to Pakistan in their opening match of the T20 World Cup 2021, India decided to open with KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan, dropping Rohit to No. 3. Here is the list of opening pairs used by India in ICC Events since Champions Trophy 2013:-

ICC Champions Trophy 2013: Rohit Sharma-Shikhar Dhawan
T20 World Cup 2014: Rohit Sharma-Shikhar Dhawan/Ajinkya Rahane
ICC World Cup 2015: Rohit Sharma-Shikhar Dhawan
T20 World Cup 2016: Rohit Sharma-Shikhar Dhawan/Ajinkya Rahane
ICC Champions Trophy 2017: Rohit Sharma-Shikhar Dhawan
ICC World Cup 2019: Rohit Sharma-Shikhar Dhawan/KL Rahul
T20 World Cup 2021 – KL Rahul – Rohit Sharma/Ishan Kishan*