After India’s most recent T20 World Cup victory, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting praised the team as the best T20I team ever put together, pointing out that the team’s depth, experience, and consistency highlight its outstanding record in white-ball cricket.
In the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India defeated New Zealand by 96 runs to win their third ICC Men’s T20 World Cup and becoming the first side to defend their title and the first to win the title at home.
With just two losses in their previous four major ICC events since the end of 2023, India has dominated men’s white-ball cricket. They only lost to South Africa in the Super Eights stage of the 2026 T20 World Cup and to Australia in the 2023 ODI World Cup final.
“It’s really hard to argue a point against that. If you look at this, not just the T20I team but their white-ball record in ICC events over the last five or six years, it’s quite remarkable,” when asked if the current Indian team is the best in T20I cricket history, ICC Hall of Famer Ponting responded on The ICC Review.
“A lot of people probably identified before this tournament started the depth and the strength that this current Indian team had, and also the experience that they have. This is a very, very strong Indian white-ball team, not just a T20 team. Back-to-back World Cups, hats off to them.”
Ponting, a three-time World Cup winner, claimed that the team has been greatly influenced by his experience playing high-pressure cricket both abroad and in the Indian Premier League.
“The one thing that’s probably overlooked with this current team is the amount of experience and the amount of cricket a lot of these guys have played, whether it’s international cricket or even just the IPL,” said the Punjab Kings head coach.
“The IPL games are every bit as big as international games anyway, so this Indian team came in well primed with great balance and a great squad.”
During the Super Eight stage, India lost against South Africa by 76 runs, although Ponting believed the defeat aided in the team’s recovery.
“You win 12 matches on the trot, there’s bound to be an off day. And I am glad it’s come early. It might just be the shake-up India needed. They would have learned from that experience and won’t take things for granted,” he said.
In response, India put on outstanding batting displays, scoring more than 250 runs in three of their final four games, including the semifinal and the final.
“Maybe it just allowed them to regroup, get together and talk about the things that are important to them as a team. They solidified what they felt was their strongest playing XI and didn’t make many changes at the back end of the tournament,” Ponting added.
