The home team’s 96-run thrashing of New Zealand in Sunday’s final didn’t just secure a historic first-ever title defence; it also signalled a ruthless new era of Indian supremacy in the T20 format. More importantly, the onfield brilliance also shifted the spotlight away from the diplomatic tensions that had overshadowed the tournament’s buildup, following Bangladesh’s withdrawal due to “security concerns” and Pakistan’s threat to boycott their big-ticket group league fixture against India.

Given that India is the first team to win three T20 World Cups and clinch consecutive titles (2024, 2026), this claim of unparalleled strength makes perfect sense. Add to this the BCCI — the game’s financial behemoth — and their incredible bench strength, and it becomes a heady cocktail of power and performance.

Besides emerging as the standout team of this World Cup, this Indian squad may well be the finest T20 side ever assembled internationally since the advent of the shortest format, which has been around for more than two decades. India’s supremacy is a throwback to the time when the West Indies of the mid-1970s to 80s and the Australians in the first decade of this millennium called the shots, winning a bagful of global titles and series across the world. Such has been India’s dominance that they have left the rest of the top-tier teams to fight for second place, something that is not good for the global game, as it points to a lack of competition.

While the manner and margin of India’s victory convey the team’s superiority in the short format, evaluating the true depth of their cricket will require looking at the players who didn’t even make the squad for this tournament. Even as the likes of Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube bask in the glory of their achievements, it would be wise to take a look at those who missed the cut. If one were to glance through the records of men like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and the precocious 14-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, one would realise the frightening depth of Indian cricket at the moment.