For once, the bowling fraternity was not rendered second-class citizens by the end of a T20 tournament.
The T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and Caribbean had the bowlers modulating the pulse until India emerged triumphant after a thrilling final against South Africa.
The last five overs of the title clash will continue to be played on loop for years to illustrate how India’s pace trio comprising Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya pulled a rabbit out of the hat despite T20 batting royalty in form of Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller needing 30 runs off as many deliveries and the fat lady getting ready to clear her throat.
The final act was symbolic as after 52 matches in the first 20-team T20 World Cup, the bowlers finished with 679 wickets, recording the best average (19.14) and economy rate (7.04) across the nine editions.
But even as the bowlers tightened their stranglehold and pushed batting strike rate to its lowest (109.96) since the 2007 edition, the batsmen found something to cheer in the Caribbean.
| Edition | Host(s) | Sixes Hit | Balls Per Six | Total Runs in Tournament | % of runs in sixes |
| 2007 | South Africa | 265 | 22.5 | 7396 | 21.49% |
| 2009 | England | 166 | 36.3 | 7201 | 13.83% |
| 2010 | West Indies | 278 | 21.36 | 6967 | 23.94% |
| 2012 | Sri Lanka | 223 | 26.35 | 7014 | 19.07% |
| 2014 | Bangladesh | 300 | 25.79 | 9125 | 19.72% |
| 2016 | India | 314 | 23.98 | 9169 | 20.54% |
| 2021 | UAE and Oman | 405 | 24.35 | 11479 | 21.16% |
| 2022 | Australia | 331 | 28.82 | 11169 | 17.78% |
| 2024 | West Indies and USA | 517 | 21.35 | 12140 | 25.55% |
Sixes to success
The 2024 edition of the T20 World Cup will go down in the record books as a paradoxical campaign for batsmen. Even with the dwindling scoring rates on varying surfaces across the USA and the Caribbean, the batsmen have thrived with improved methods of six-hitting to counter the effects of indifferent pitches.
While the number of sixes was expected to increase with more teams and more games, it is worth noting that the six-hitting rates soared to their highest across all editions, despite conditions in the West Indies and the USA not always in the batsmen’s favour.
The tournament ended with a record 517 sixes, with a maximum struck every 21.35 balls, this season. It displaced the 2010 edition – the last World Cup held in the Caribbean – that had a balls-per-six ratio of 21.36.
6️⃣,6️⃣,4️⃣: The Hitman takes the aerial route 🔥
2️⃣9️⃣ off that #MitchellStarc over and #RohitSharma takes #TeamIndia off to a flyer! 💪🏻
𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝟖 👉 #AUSvIND | LIVE NOW | #T20WorldCupOnStar pic.twitter.com/3mYubPm6jU
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) June 24, 2024
Interestingly, never before has six-hitting been such a big factor in the overall scoring in a T20 World Cup and the determination of a winner. As much as 25.55 percent of the total tournament runs (12,140) were amassed through maximums.
It was remarkable that the tournament recovered from the sluggish contests in the USA to project such improved feats of six-hitting by the end. While 109 sixes were hit in nine matches in America, a maximum every 27 deliveries, 39 games in the West Indies bore a whopping 408 sixes at a Bp6 ratio of 19.8 – almost single-handedly bettering the figures set by any past edition.
Champions India made the most out of their evolved batting philosophy to make a difference in the Caribbean leg of the tournament. Rohit Sharma’s side finished with 1,256 runs in their campaign, the most by any team in an edition. Their pronounced emphasis on sixes brought over 30 percent of these runs, with their total of 61 maximums only bettered by West Indies’ 62, also from this edition.
| Host(s) | Sixes Hit | Balls Per Six | Total Runs in Tournament | % of runs in sixes | |
| 2024 | In West Indies | 408 | 19.8 | 9261 | 26.43 |
| In USA | 109 | 27.14 | 2879 | 22.71 |
There have been 47 instances of batsmen aggregating a minimum of 10 sixes in an edition of the T20 World Cup. This year, a record 13 of them breached that mark, with Nicholas Pooran setting a new benchmark at 17 sixes.
The share of runs through sixes jumped from 23.94 in 2010 to 26.43 this time, exemplifying the added value of six-hitting in the Caribbean. It is here that India waltzed forward by a resounding margin, smashing 50 sixes in only five matches as opposed to West Indies (62 in 7 games) and Australia 50 in 7 games), with skipper Rohit leading the charge with 11 sixes.