Not Virat Kohli or Suryakumar Yadav, L Balaji chooses a pacer for India’s top moment ahead of T20 World Cup 2026

Lakshmipathy Balaji picked his best T20 World Cup moments in a 'This or That' segment involving India ahead of the 2026 edition of the marquee event.

On the Star Sports handle, the former India pacer was asked to pick either S Sreesanth's title-clinching catch to dismiss Misbah-ul-Haq in the inaugural T20 World Cup final or Yuvraj Singh's six sixes in an over, earlier in the tournament against England's Stuart Broad.

Balaji, who is a two-time IPL winner, picked the latter, a moment deeply etched in India's rich cricketing history. During that game, Yuvraj slammed a 12-ball half-century, which continues to be the fastest in T20I cricket.

Yuvraj's six sixes moment was picked by Balaji across the next three rounds against Rohit Sharma's 29-run over in the 2024 T20 World Cup, Virat Kohli's iconic backfoot six off Haris Rauf in 2022, and MS Dhoni's last-ball run out against Bangladesh in 2016 to secure a famous win.

The six sixes milestone was finally bettered by Hardik Pandya's last over in the T20 World Cup 2024 final in Bridgetown, Barbados. The Baroda all-rounder managed to defend 16 runs in the last over against South Africa and helped India end an 11-year ICC title drought.

Balaji also went with Hardik's over when it was lined up against the famous Bowl Out win against Pakistan in the 2007 T20 World Cup.

The former Tamil Nadu captain decided to pick Suryakumar Yadav's famous catch at the long-off boundary to dismiss David Miller in the 2024 final ahead of Hardik's over. Incidentally, this catch was taken off the first ball bowled by Hardik in the last over.

Suryakumar's catch continued to be Balaji's pick when it was pitted against Ravichandran Ashwin's clever leave to earn a wide in the closing stages of the 2022 T20 World Cup clash against Pakistan. However, in the final round, the current Indian captain's catch was trumped by Jasprit Bumrah's magnificent spell in the same final.

Defending a 177-run target, Bumrah finished with excellent figures of 2/18 in four overs, helping India win by seven runs. He was particularly sensational during the death overs after South Africa were cruising at one stage with 30 runs needed off the last five overs with six wickets still remaining.

The Men in Blue have a fantastic chance of becoming the first team to win the coveted T20 World Cup thrice. The West Indies and England are the other two teams that have won two titles at the global extravaganza.