This time it was India. It had to be India.
Two years ago, at the last, they faltered on the biggest stage.
The weight of expectation, a final in front of 100,000 and a billion more at home, made them flinch.
They had broken their trophy drought since – first in Barbados in 2024 and then Dubai last year – but back in another home final, would that pressure stop them again?
The extra trains put on left Mumbai at 4am as thousands of fans rolled into Ahmedabad. Fans boarded with that same expectation.
There seemed a fear to talk about that night against Australia, when they lost the 50-over World Cup final. In press conferences, few questions asked. They were swatted away when they came.
“That’s over, sir,” captain Suryakumar Yadav said on Saturday. “It’s been three years, sir. Now T20 is here.”
This time a city that had delivered pain brought joy. If India can win these finals, overcoming the one thing that held them back before, what hope do the rest have?
In truth, India’s victory here is no surprise.
They wobbled in their opening match against the United States and were beaten by South Africa.
Since then have looked like the team that came in as overwhelming favourites to win in their home conditions, perhaps also one of the best T20 sides the international game has seen.
Since that defeat by the Proteas, Suryakumar’s men have effectively had four knockout matches.
Under the pump they hit more than 250 three times – against Zimbabwe, England and New Zealand – a feat that had only been achieved by anyone twice in previous T20 World Cups before.
In many ways this is a different India team.
They have Jasprit Bumrah, a modern-day phenomenon of a fast bowler.
Yet former captain Virat Kohli’s name is still the one worn on a thousand backs in the stands.
It is a team without the superstars of the past. One that instead is pushed by captain Suryakumar and coach Gautam Gambhir to focus on the collective.
Suryakumar is also a different breed of leader than those who have come before.
He is the international latecomer, who did not make his debut until his 30s and is not even captain of his Indian Premier League (IPL) side.
Kapil Dev, MC Dhoni and Rohit Sharma were the only men to have led India to World Cup glory – three icons of Indian sport who led by aura.
Suryakumar now stands alongside with a victory of his own.
Throughout the tournament contributions have come from all corners.
Ishan Kishan kept the campaign on track with two fifties in the beginning, before Sanju Samson, dropped on the eve of the tournament before regaining his place through a team-mates’ bereavement, provided the finale with three of his own.
Shivam Dube added gloss with late-order hitting and Axar Patel starred in the field. Even Abhishek Sharma, with a fifty in the final amid a difficult tournament, found form when it mattered most.
“They are a very good team,” said New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner. “They know how to play in these conditions. They play on a lot of flat wickets against quality sides.
“They showed again that once they get going they are pretty tough to stop.”
The task for the rest of the world is to make up the sizeable gap India have built at the top of the T20 game.
One the face of it, the three-time champions, the first men’s side to defend the T20 crown and the first to win it on home soil, look to have everything going their way.
A young team, talent groomed in the IPL and the benefits of the funds that tournament provides, all while taking home a greater share of the international game’s revenue than anyone else.
The win in the T20 World Cup in 2024 ended a 13-year wait for a title and has provided unerring confidence.
India have only lost two of 34 matches at the past four global white-ball events. Catching them will be no easy task.
But, as good as they have been here over the past two weeks, the rest have to look to the tighter moments in this tournament.
West Indies dropped two catches in their defeat by India. Harry Brook put down Sansom in the semi-final. Things could have been different, or at least that has to be the hope.
The run of world events across the past three years has fallen kindly for India.
It began with the 2023 tournament on home soil, which they should have won, before more slow pitches in the Caribbean in 2024.
After that came the Champions Trophy where all of their matches were held in Dubai, and then this event hosted at home and Sri Lanka.
Cricket’s calendar now turns away from the subcontinent, with the next 50-over World Cup to be played in across Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa in 2027. Pitches there will offer pace and bounce.
After that, Australia and New Zealand host the 2028 T20 World Cup, where fast bowlers will again be key.
More depth behind Bumrah will have to be found, while recent struggles in Test cricket – India have lost at home to South Africa and New Zealand in the past two years – will require some focus.
In between those next two World Cups will be the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, played in the T20 format. It is an event already on players’ minds.
“Definitely the next goal is Olympic gold and the next T20 World Cup,” said Suryakumar.
“Since 2024, the way we have played, we have won three ICC trophies in a row and we have not looked back.
“We want to continue doing that in 2027, 2028, 2029 and never stop.”
The rest of the world have been warned.
It is up to someone to catch India. That is something the game needs.-BBC
