The history of ICC World Twenty20

It's been a cricket feast in Bangladesh in 2014. The ICC World T20 championship to be played between March 16 and April 6 will be the icing on the cake. Bangladesh hosted the Asia Cup successfully in February-March and the tournament, won by Sri Lanka, was the perfect dress rehearsal before the World Cup. Capital Dhaka and the historic cities of Chittagong and Sylhet will host the World Cup matches to be contested, for the first time, by 16 teams - 10 full members and six associate members.

This will be the fifth edition of the T20 World Cup. Sri Lanka hosted the fourth event in 2012. Bangladesh will offer challenging conditions to all teams. Sri Lanka and Pakistan will be on a high after contesting the Asia Cup final. The T20 format will make the championship more exciting with teams like Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe capable of upsetting fancied teams.

The tournament will be played  in two stages. Divided into two pools, eight teams - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Ireland, Zimbabwe, UAE and the Netherlands - play a group stage. Two among them join Australia, England, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, South Africa and the West Indies in the Super-10 stage. Ten teams will be divided into two groups. The top two from each group will contest the semifinals.

West Indies will enter as defending champions but the sub-continental sides will fancy their chances given the playing conditions. But several players will find a level playing field as they are regulars in the Indian Premier League. So, it's all set for some exhilarating cricket.

Here's a look back at the first four editions of the World T20:

The inaugural event, the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, was staged in South Africa. The tournament was played between 11-24 September. India won the tournament beating arch-rivals Pakistan by 5 runs in the final at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. India won the toss and thanks to Gautam Gambhir's fighting 75 off 54 balls, scored 157/5. Pakistan lost two quick wickets for 26 but India loosened their grip after Sreesanth gave away 21 in an over. Irfan Pathan and Joginder Sharma managed to keep the opposition in check. With 13 needed off the last over, Mahendra Singh Dhoni tossed the ball to the low-profile Joginder. It proved to be a master-stroke. With a wicket in hand and just six runs required off 4 balls, Misbah-ul-Haq tried to scoop the ball over the short fine-leg fielder. Sreesanth, probably, took the most important catch of his life. The 2007 event will also be remembered for Yuvraj's six sixes in an over. England's Stuart Broad was the bowler to suffer.

The second event took place in England from June 5-21, 2009. This tournament was won by the previous runners-up Pakistan who defeated Sri Lanka by 8 wickets in the final at Lord's. Playing back-to-back finals, Pakistan looked a determined unit. Despite a gritty 64 not out by Kumar Sangakkara, Pakistan managed to restrict the Lankans to 138/6. Pakistan openers Kamran Akmal (37) and Shahzaib Hasan (19) set-up a firm base. Shahid Afridi then arrived to score a fiery unbeaten 54 to ensure that the Green shirts were not denied this time.

The third tournament was hosted by the West Indies from April 30 to May 16, 2010. The biennial event was played only after 10 months of the previous tournament in England. This was because the 2008 Champions Trophy which was to be held in Pakistan was postponed due to security concerns and therefore, the scheduled Champions Trophy which was to be held in West Indies in 2010 was revised to the 20-20 format to correct the calendar. England  defeated Australia by 7 wickets in the final at Kensington Oval, Barbados. This was the first ever ICC tournament won by England. England peaked at the right time to beat Sri Lanka in the first semi-final. Australia knocked out defending champions Pakistan in the other semifinal. In the final, Australia recovered from 8 for three wickets to score 147. Craig Kieswetter (63) and Kevin Pietersen (47) gave England the crown as the Three Lions won in 17 overs.

The fourth tournament in 2012 was held from September 18 to October 7 in Sri Lanka. West Indies defeated Sri Lanka by 36 runs for a historic win. For the Caribbeans, it was their first appearance in a world cricket final since 1983 and their first victory since 1979. In a low-scoring match, West Indies scored 137 for 6 in their 20 overs. Marlon Samuels top scored with 78 off 56 balls. Ajantha Mendis took 4 wickets for 12 runs. The Lankans messed up an easy chase. The hosts lost half their side for 61 runs and could not recover. The Lankans were all out for 101 in the 19th over. Spinner Sunil Narine took three wickets for nine runs.