After Sunday's T20 World Cup final, when fireworks erupted in the skies over Dubai and a confetti rain fell on the cheerful Australian team, the organizers breathed a sigh of relief at the safe and shiny finish of the showpiece event.
It was not until June that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) reached out to a 16-team tournament in a coronavirus-infected country.
The tournament found a new home in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) when Oman was allotted some preliminary round matches, although the BCCI retained its hosting status.
After a full month in action, Aaron Finch's Australia, canceled out after a great build-up, emerged with their first 20-over world title in their hands.
The tournament was initially disrupted until pre-tournament favorites India sent a shockwave with their untimely departure, as was the 20-over leader of Virat Kohli's Swansong team.
The competition came alive in the semifinals when New Zealand stunned 50-time world champions England and Australia humbled Pakistan, the only unbeaten team in the tournament so far.
England opener Jos Butler and Sri Lankan all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga have lit up the tournament with their personal talents though their team could not keep their distance.
And hardly match the courage of Pakistan stumper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan, who spent two nights in intensive care for a chest infection and returned to be the top scorer for his team after their loss to Australia in the semifinals.
India's Kohli also won hearts for his courageous stance against religious discrimination when teammate Mohammad Shami was abused online after the team's defeat to Pakistan.
His South African opponent, Tenda Babumao, also defined true leadership by tackling a crisis after teammate Quinton de Kock initially refused a team order to kneel down in protest of racism.
Ken Williamson also led by example but New Zealand are still runners-up in the World Cup for the third time in six years.
"You sign up to play the game, you win and you lose, and these are things that can happen any day," said the ever-Romanian 31-year-old.
"If you look at the campaign as a whole, what we do and the kind of cricket we've been able to play, I can say that we're very proud of our efforts at this time."
The only feature of an otherwise successful tournament was the condition, especially in Dubai, which was in favor of the chasing teams and had a big impact on the toss result.
The chasing team has won every night's game in Dubai and Finch has admitted that he has won six of the seven tosses.
"Honestly, it was a big factor," Finch said after winning the title.
"In T20 cricket, you need some luck, don't get me wrong ... we've won six of the seven tosses, which goes a long way. But we've played some really good cricket."
Australia will have to play well to retain the title at home for 11 months.
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