The Indian senior men’s team took the field at The Oval for the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Final against Australia on Wednesday. The winner of this game gets the Test mace and the pride of being called the best Test team in the world.
Both the teams have a few players on their side who will be looking to cement their Test legacy with a win in the WTC Final.
India also have the extra motivation of ending their decade-long drought of an ICC title. Neither the Indian senior men’s nor women’s team has won an ICC trophy for 10 years now, a wait Rohit Sharma and his team would dearly want to end.
Every year for the past 10 years, India have had to suffer heartbreak after heartbreak, disappointment after disappointment in ICC tournaments.
Here’s the list of the ICC Tournaments that India have lost since 2014:
2014 T20 World Cup
In the 2014 T20 World Cup in Bangladesh, India topped their group in the Super 6 round with 4 wins in 4 matches, defeated South Africa in the semi-final, but went on to lose to Sri Lanka in the final.
2014 Women’s T20 WC
In the women’s T20 WC in Bangladesh, the Indian women’s team failed to reach the semis, winning 3 out of 5 Super 6 matches.
2015 World Cup
In the 2015 ODI World Cup in Australia, MS Dhoni‘s men had a sensational run in the group stage, winning all of their 6 group matches. However, they went down to hosts Australia in the semi-final.
2016 T20 World Cup
Riding on Virat Kohli‘s thunderous form at home, India reached the semis of the 2016 T20 WC with 3 wins in 4 group matches. However, in the semi-final at the Wankhede, India were knocked out by West Indies.
2016 Women’s T20 WC
With just 1 win in 4 matches, the Indian women’s team failed to reach the semis of the 2016 WT20 WC.
2017 Champions Trophy
India were looking set for lifting the 2017 Champions Trophy in England having topped the group stage and hammered Bangladesh in the semi-final. But they ran into the mercurial Pakistan team in the final and lost the encounter by a massive margin.
2017 Women’s World Cup
One of the biggest heartbreaks in Indian women’s cricket history happened in 2017 in England. Mithali Raj’s team reached the semi-finals with 5 wins in 7 matches in the league phase. A storm from Harmanpreet Kaur blew away the Aussies in the semi-final and India were inching toward winning the final until a batting collapse happened and they lost by only 9 runs.
2018 Women’s T20 WC
Having won all 4 group matches, India women reached the semi-final of the 2018 WT20 WC in the West Indies, however, they lost the semi-final to England.
2019 World Cup
The men’s team suffered a massive upset in the 2019 World Cup in England. Virat Kohli’s team were the league phase toppers with 7 wins and only 1 loss. However, they lost the semi-final to New Zealand in a thriller.
2020 Women’s T20 WC
Harmanpreet Kaur’s women team were on song in the Women’s T20 WC 2020 in Australia with clean swept in all 4 group matches. With the semi-final getting washed out due to rain, they were given a bye to the final, where they met a rampant Australian team and lost the final.
2021 T20 WC
Virat Kohli’s side suffered consecutive defeats to Pakistan and New Zealand at the start of the 2020 T20 WC in the UAE. Even 3 wins after that didn’t helped them reach the semis.
2021 WTC Final
India had been the best team in the 2019/21 WTC Cycle. However, they lost to New Zealand in the WTC 2021 Final in Southampton.
2021 Women’s World Cup
The swansong of Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami ended in tears as the Indian women’s team failed to reach the semifinal of the 2021 Women’s World Cup in New Zealand.
2022 T20 WC
Rohit Sharma’s first ICC tournament as India’s captain ended in another knockout loss as India lost to England in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.
2023 Women’s T20 WC
The women’s team followed suit with a loss in the semi-final of the 2023 WT20 WC to Australia in South Africa.
