India, Feb. 4 -- The 2014 T20 World Cup didn't come wrapped in Caribbean colour. It arrived in Bangladesh's sticky nights and slow, gripping pitches, where timing felt borrowed and power-hitting often looked like a bad idea. In Dhaka and Mirpur, the tournament turned into a test of control - of pace, of match-ups, of ego - and it crowned the team that stayed the calmest when the ball stopped behaving.

It ended with a familiar punch for India and a long-delayed release for Sri Lanka. India reached the final unbeaten and still walked away empty-handed as Sri Lanka finally sealed their first men's World T20 title, completing a story that had waited through heartbreak and near-misses. In a format that rarely respects experience, 2014 rewarde...