A T20 lowdown and high up

Which is the strongest team in the T20Is ? Is it India or Pakistan or Australia or South Africa ?

Or for that matter Sri Lanka or New Zealand ?

India are the defending world champions in the format which they won in 2007 comprehensively. In true Australian way circa 1999.

Having lost to NZ in the Super 8 stage, they needed to win 2 out of 2 games and didn’t they win all and 2 more. 4 in all.

Here is the win loss record for all teams (exclude BD and Zim)

Twenty20 record for each team

Team	Played	Won	Lost
Pakistan	17	13	3 (1 tie)
India	13	7	4 (1 tie + 1 NR)
SL	13	8	5
SA	18	11	7
Aus	21	11	10
WI	11	4	5(2 tie)
NZ	21	8	11(2 tie)
Eng	15	6	9

Pakistan have won 13 games of 17 it has played. Now does that make them the strongest. Well no. 7 of them are against minnows.

Canada, Bangladesh, Kenya and Scotland. Exclude those 6 of them and the record then reads

Pakistan

10

6

3 (1 tie)

Out of this 6, most impressive record is against the Aussies. 2 out of 2 (2007 WC and then in 2009 desert safari). They have favorable record against England (1 out of 1) and New Zealand (1 out of 1)

At par with Sri Lanka (2 out of 4). They are yet to beat India in this format, the biggest parameter to test their strength in any format. 1 of them has been a tie (bowl out went to India for points distribution)

And the most famous T20I match, they lost to their bitter and toughest opponents thanks to an ill timed scoop by Misbah. They are yet to beat SA in this format. They haven’t played WI in any of the games so far.

Not the strongest of the records you see.

Lets take India to the sword.

Played 13. Won 7, lost 4. Out of the 4 , they have lost 3 to one single team – Kiwis. In fact they are yet to beat the Kiwis in this format. They lost the first super 8 game in 2007 and then 2 again in the Kiwi tour in 2009. They have one game washed out against the minnows Scotland, so we are no minnow bashers.

Out of the 7 victories we have, 2 against Aussies, 2 against SA (no loss), 1 against England, 1 against SA and 1 against Pakistan. The other loss came to Australia in 2008 when they were bowled out for a paltry 74.

Strongest ? Not quite. The 3 losses to Kiwis take off the sheen from the claim to be the strongest. Point of concern is since 2007 triumph, the champs have played 5 games, won 2 and lost 3. The only comprehensive win coming against Australia in Brabourne in 2007. They almost lost it against Lanka in 2009, thanks to Pathan bros who got team home.

Sri Lanka

13 played, 8 victories and 5 losses.

Minnow bashing. Yes. 4 against minnows. 4 against good countries. 2 against Pakistan, 1 against England and New Zealand. Err no. Not strong. No no no. Mind ittttttt, they hold the world record in this format too for the highest score. Phew. 260 in World T20 against minnows Kenya. Add 6/952, 443/6 or 8 in Tests and ODIs respectively. Credible.

WI, NZ and England fizz out owing to their on and off record.

We remain with Australia and South Africa. Unfortunately they have pretty on and off record too. Esp Aussies, they started off with a bang this year with 2 of 2 victories down under, thanks to David Warner, but they lost the steam in South Africa and desert safari. Aussies have a 50% ratio here, pretty low by their standards. But we should not forget that they come back hard at a trophy they haven’t won. Go back to Champions trophy, the 2006 edition. They won it comprehensively. It’s a different matter altogether, that this year its going to be India once again as the CT goes to SA and we win almost everything in SA. Won the IPL – 2, The World T20 2007 and almost the WC 2003, the first T20 in SA in Durban. Didn’t we ?

Its more of a day factor, the team that plays well the given day wins, but its to the consistency factor which decides which team remains the strongest. Out of the facts I diagnosed here, it’s a outright result. INDIA. They haven’t won any cheap game, they haven’t lost to major teams except Australia and Kiwis. IMO they are the strongest in the format, but then again only till the next T20 is played.