India, March 8 -- When India were decimated by South Africa last month in the Super 8 stage, their vulnerabilities lay bare and the defeat pushed them to the brink, memories of November 19, 2023, resurfaced. For many, it raised the question of whether the Ahmedabad stadium was somehow cursed. On Sunday, the opening script seemed eerily familiar to that painful ODI World Cup final, the visiting team won the toss and sent India in to bat. But that was where the similarity ended. What followed was a complete rewrite.

India's batters unleashed a brutal assault in front of more than 100,000 spectators at the Narendra Modi Stadium as the hosts stormed to history, becoming the first team to successfully defend the T20 World Cup title, the first...