Tapestry Of The Unlikely: A Compendium Of Rarities In T20 World Cup History

The year was 2007 and the cricketing world was sceptical. They called this version of cricket a “lottery” and a “trick.” However, as the South African bowler Shaun Pollock ran in to deliver the first ball ever bowled in the Twenty20 World Cup, no one was aware that a treasure trove of statistics was being uncovered (Rounds, 2007).

The first ball was a dot ball bowled to Chris Gayle. By the end of that night, Gayle had struck 117 off 57 balls – the first-ever T20 International century opened the floodgates of “Firsts” and “Onlys.”

What makes T20 world cup so addictive isn’t the trophies but the oddities or the things that happen only once and then decline to repeat itself for decades.

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2007 India vs Pakistan "Bowl-Out"

In that very 2007 tournament, India and Pakistan had an edge of the seat game. Today we have the option of a “Super Over,” but back then, the rules was soccer style shootout. They had to run up and dislodge three unguarded stumps. India’s MS Dhoni chose part-time spinners such as Virender Sehwag and Robin Uthappa whereas Pakistan chose their best pacers. India hit the posts thrice while Pakistan failed to hit a single stump. It remains the only match in the tournament’s history to be decided by a bowl-out, an archaic mechanism of a much older and less understood era in the game.

The Lonely Pedestal Of Ajantha Mendis

As the years passed, "Onlys" became more prestigious. Their “Onlys” grew in prestige over the years. The Sri Lanka mystery spinner sent down a bowling spell in 2012 that seemed like a video game glitch. He took 6 wickets while only giving away 8 runs against Zimbabwe. In almost two decades of T20 World Cup history, he remains the only individual to take six wickets.

Four In Four: The Double Hat-Trick

Then there is the “Double Hat-Trick,” a term that sounds impossible to achieve. In 2021, Ireland’s Curtis Campher was out to desafine the laws of chance. He faced the Netherlands and not only had a hat-trick, but also four wickets in four consecutive balls. It was a blur of pads, broken stumps and astonished celebrations. Campher remains the only one to have done this "four-in-four" at the World Cup.

The Mathematically Perfect Game

Perhaps the most “excellent” record was written just recently in 2024 by New Zealand’s Lockie Ferguson. In a game against Papua New Guinea, Ferguson got something that is mathematically impossible to beat. He bowled 24 balls, his entire four-over quota, without conceding a single run. His figures read: 4 overs, 4 maidens, 3 wickets, 0 runs. This is the single "perfect game" in the competition’s history.

The Iron Men Of T20

Tenacity about this format is a blessing. Two men – Rohit Sharma and Shakib Al Hasan – stand alone as the only players to have featured in every edition of the tournament from its 2007 inception to the 2024 extravaganza.

The Unbreakable Host Curse

Player statistics are obvious, but the “Host Curse” provides the secret. The Host Curse provides the secret, with players delivering only the stats; this is one of the strangest Onlys in sports that no host nation has ever won a T20 World Cup on home turf. Not the Australians with their muscle, not Sri Lanka with their spin wizardry, and not the Indians with their star-studded line-up either.

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The Captains And The Kings

But with such constant change at captaincy, Daren Sammy is the only man to have stood on the winners podium twice as captain (2012 and 2016). His “Only” is defined not by leadership but by the sheer force of character that saw the West Indies dominate the mid-years of the tournament.