With days, the cricket format has gotten shorter and shorter. T20 cricket was one such evolution. From having "timeless Test cricket" to having leagues like T10, cricket has shortened to give quick entertainment and grab more monetization. Well, T20 Cricket was a brainchild of the England and Wales Cricket Board, more specifically, of the ECB marketting manager Stuart Robinson in 2001. The English domestic cricket saw a massive dearth in long-format and ODI cricket, as young fans turned away, and sponsorship deals declined steeply. ECB wanted to make cricket more entertaining and thus squeezed the game to twenty overs a side. However, several reports state that the 20 overs cricket was still in practice in clubs and alleys before it got officially recognized. Later ECB has a voting session before introducing T20 cricket to Country cricket, and 11 counties approved while 7 went against the format. When and how the first T20 matches began In June 2003, the first official T20 competition was played between the English County teams, under the name of the Twenty20 Cup. The first session was a success and thus gained quick attention. Unlike a normal Test match that last for 5 dyas, T20s consumed a maximum of 3 hours. Crowds came back mostly for the short-time, action-packed nature of the sport. Broadcasts started investing on it as the time decreased much compared to the longer versions. That entertainment value boosted popularity on TV and in stadiums, drew sponsorship and financial investment — making cricket commercially more viable in many markets Eventually the format was adopted globally: domestic T20 leagues sprung up in many countries; the sport’s governing body, International Cricket Council (ICC), embraced it; and T20 became the third major form of international cricket (alongside Test and One-Day). When did India win their first away match? Notably, the first ever ICC T20I match was played between Australia and New Zealand on February 17, 2005. Aucland's Eden Park hosted the match and Australia won it by 44 runs. Ironically, India played their first match on December 1, 2006, against South Africa, the same opponent India will face today at Cuttack for the first T20I of the series. Notably, the match was hosted in Johannesburg, and India won it by 6 wickets. Dines Kartik, now a batting coach of the Royal Challengers Bangaluru got the player of the match award after a match winning knock of 31*. India early denial to T20 For a long time BCCI was ignorant about the format. The then BCCI president Niranjan Shah was often heard to mock the “slap-dash instant cricket extravaganza,” often taunting to shorten it further. BCCI was rigid. They felt that the traditional form of cricket, the Test cricket, is still alive in the country. And such gimmicks are required in countries where the long format is dying. Who knew that India would stand out as one of the biggest and most lucrative hubs of the T20 format! BCCI's attitude gradually changed after ICC mandated the format. Meanwhile India back winning the inaugural ICC Twenty20 changed the scenario. What happened in the ICC Twenty20? In 2007, the Indian men won the inaugural ICC Twenty20 Championship, the then T20 World Cup. But what was seen on the television as a tournament had a backdrop. Notably, several seniors, including Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly, opted out of the tournament. Reports said that they persuaded Sachin Tendulkar to do the same. There are words that say that the team wasn't looking seriously at the format. However, later, team manager Lalchand Rajput revealed that it was Dravid's idea to step away to give the youngsters the exposure. Not only that, the seniors had just returned from a long tour (England), and jumping directly into a new format — especially one that was fresh and uncertain — may have seemed too taxing; giving rest seemed reasonable India wins inaugural ICC Twenty20, 2007 Well, MS Dhoni, the then young captain of the team, later said that he initially was not in the plan. However, he was transparent with the selected players, he handled the given unwarned captaincy, and he gave the results too. India entered the 2007 T20 World Cup with a young, largely untested squad after seniors opted out, and Dhoni’s fearless leadership turned the gamble into a historic triumph. In the group tie against Pakistan, he backed slower bowlers in the bowl-out, which India won, and in a must-win match against South Africa, he used his bowlers smartly to defend a modest total. India then stunned Australia in the semifinal before meeting Pakistan in the final, where Dhoni again showed nerve by handing the tense last over to Joginder Sharma; the gamble paid off as India secured a five-run win to become the inaugural T20 World Cup champions. Read also: Stadium Tales present Barabati Stadium: A Cricket fortress that carries faded royalty of the sport The rise of Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League was born out of a bold vision in 2007, when Lalit Modi convinced the BCCI to launch a franchise-based T20 league that could outshine the rebel ICL and tap into India’s booming cricket economy. When the eight original city franchises were auctioned for a staggering US $723.59 million, it signaled a revolution. The first season in 2008 proved the gamble right: IPL generated ₹645 crore in gross revenue and ₹51 crore in net profit for the BCCI, instantly becoming Indian cricket’s biggest commercial engine. Fans embraced it as a summer carnival—short matches, big stars, city pride, and primetime drama. Over the years, its financial power exploded: media rights soared to ₹48,390 crore for 2023–27, and the IPL eventually contributed 59% of BCCI’s total revenue. What began as a challenge to a rebel league became cricket’s richest, loudest, and most transformative spectacle. India's first T20I win in India India took another year to finally get a T20 series on their own ground. India has hosted Sri Lanka for a two-match T20I series in December 2009. Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur hosted the first ODI against Sri Lanka, on December 9, 2009, which happened to India's first-ever T20 International match on their ground. It kept all the essence of the two IPL seasons they hosted—the loud music after a wicket or a boundary. It has the cheerleaders who danced with the beats too—something that don't exist neither in IPL nor in T20 internationals now. Well, despite a half century from Gautam Gambhir in the second innings, India failed to chase 216 runs. India was restricted to 189 runs, losing nine wickets. India's first T20I win came at home in the second match at Mohali, on December 12 by 6 wickets. Yuvraj Singh won the Man of the Match award for scoring 60 runs off 25 balls while chasing and taking 3 wickets while bowling.