The ICC T20 World Cup is inarguably the biggest international T20 competition. Before India took part in the inaugural 2007 edition that they won, the Men in Blue had featured in only one T20 game. Such match-winning T20 players as Gautam Gambhir, Joginder Sharma, Robin Uthappa, Rohit Sharma, RP Singh, Yusuf Pathan and Yuvraj Singh played their first international games during the tournament. After the IPL began in 2008, India began to feature regularly in T20I games. Not more than six players played their first T20 international at an ICC T20 world cup event after the inaugural edition in 2007.
Pragyan Ojha
Ojha made his T20I debut versus Bangladesh in the 2009 edition of the T20I World Cup. It was India’s first game of the competition. Taking 4/21 in his four overs in that match, Ojha helped India to begin their campaign on a winning note. In the process, Ojha set a record for the best bowling performance by an Indian player in his debut game, a record that is yet to be broken.
Murali Vijay
His brilliant performances in the IPL while playing for Chennai Super Kings catapulted Murali Vijay into the Indian team for the 2010 T20 World Cup. Vijay made his T20I debut in India’s first match of the competition versus Afghanistan. Scoring 46 from 48 balls, Vijay helped India to a winning start to their campaign.
<Piyush Chawla
Piyush Chawla was yet another player who began his T20I career at the ICC T20 World Cup in 2010 when the leggie featured in a group stage game versus South Africa. Chawla took 1/27 from three overs in a match that India won on the back of Suresh Raina’s ton.
<Vinay Kumar
Vinay Kumar played his first T20I game at the 2010 ICC T20 World Cup. He made his debut versus Sri Lanka. In a ‘Super 8’ game, the former India paceman took 2/30. However, his effort went in vain as India ended up losing the match by five wickets.
<Mohammed Shami
Indian fans had to wait until 2012 before another T20I debutant featured in an ICC T20 world cup. In the match against Pakistan, Md Shami made an immediate impact. By grabbing the prize wicket of Pakistan’s top-scoring batsman Umar Akmal, Shami helped India to another historic world cup win over their traditional rivals.
<Mohit Sharma
Mohit Sharma played his first T20I at the 2014 T20 World Cup. The right-handed paceman first featured in India’s game versus Australia.
<Conclusion
No Indian player has played his first T20I at an ICC world cup since Mohit Sharma who did so in the 2014 edition.