India and Sri Lanka will jointly host the ICC T20 World Cup 2026
The ICC T20 World Cup 2026 will commence from February 7
Check out how the table toppers of last five editions fared below
The ICC T20 World Cup 2026, hosted by India and Sri Lanka, is all set to commence from February 7, 2026. India are the defending champions, and they will be strong favourites to win this time as well. Other contenders include two-time champion England, Australia, last edition's runner-up South Africa as well.
The 2026 edition will be the 10th edition of the T20 World Cup. Over the years, there has been six champions of the competition. India won twice and so did West Indies and England. Others who have won once are Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Australia.
The competition has also gone through metamorphosis of formats. Between 2007-12, it was 12-team competition with a Super Eight stage before the knockouts began. Between 2014 and 2022, it became a 16-team tournament with a Super Ten and later a Super Twelve stage. In 2024, the tournament further expanded to 20 teams and Super Eight stages returned.
In this article, we will look at how the table toppers of the last five editions fared in the knockout stages of the T20 World Cup.
2024
India and South Africa finished at the top of their respective Super Eight groups. India defeated Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Australia to finish at the top of the table with six points. South Africa were also dominant, as they finished with six points as well by beating England, West Indies and USA. India went on to win the competition, while South Africa lost to them in the final.
2022
India and New Zealand topped their respective groups in the Super 12 stage in 2022. India lost only one game against South Africa and won against Pakistan, Netherlands, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe to finish at the top. New Zealand finished first their group with seven points. They secured the top spot over England and Australia due to a vastly superior net run rate (+2.113) after a massive opening win against Australia.
New Zealand were eliminated from the semi-final after a loss against Pakistan. Meanwhile, India got defeated in the semi-finals as well by England.
2021
England and Pakistan ended the Super 12 stage as toppers in 2021. England were in a rather tough group, despite of it, they finished at the top with 8 points. They only lost one game against South Africa. Pakistan, meanwhile, won all five games in their group which included memorable wins against India and New Zealand. Both England and Pakistan were knocked out in the semifinal by New Zealand and Australia respectively.
2016
West Indies and New Zealand finished as the Super 10 group toppers in 2016. West Indies won three out of their four matches and only lost against Afghanistan. Meanwhile, New Zealand won all their group matches and finished with perfect eight points. They were the only team in the tournament to win all their group matches. New Zealand lost to England in the semifinal while West Indies went all the way to win the title.
2014
India set a perfect win record in the Super 10 stages in 2014 as they won all 4 of their matches. They comfortably defeated Pakistan, West Indies, Bangladesh, and Australia to finish with eight points. Sri Lanka was the topper of the other group. They finished with six points. Their only loss came against England. India and Sri Lanka went on to meet in the final and Sri Lanka won the title.
