ICC T20 World Cup 2016 review: Team of the tournament, best moment, top match and breakthrough star

Team of the tournament: Jason Roy (England), Mohammad Shehzad (Afghanistan), Marlon Samuels (West Indies), Virat Kohli (India), Joe Root (England), Jos Buttler (England), Dwayne Bravo (West Indies), Ish Sodhi (New Zealand), Mitchell Santner (New Zealand), David Willey (England), Samuel Badree (West Indies)

Best player: Virat Kohli (India) - Despite hosts – and heavy favourites – India's failure to reach the final, Kohli was still deservedly named as the International Cricket Council's (ICC) player of the tournament for the second WT20 in a row. The wildly popular batsman finished as second-highest run scorer, with his total of 273 bested only by Tamim Iqbal of Bangladesh.

An unbeaten 55* secured victory in a titanic clash with fierce rivals Pakistan, and although he underperformed against Bangladesh, he bounced back with an excellent 82 to book a place in the last four at the expense of Australia. He was India's best bowler and batsman in a heartbreaking loss to the West Indies, scoring 89* and finishing with figures of one for 15 following the wicket of Johnson Charles.

Breakthrough star of the tournament: David Willey (England) - New Zealand spinners Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner were both immensely valuable to the Black Caps' impressive run to the semi-finals, while Samuel Badree was also influential. Willey, however, deserves ample credit for leading England's bowlers with 10 wickets – more than any other seamer.

After claiming just a solitary dismissal against the West Indies and South Africa during the Super 10 phase, the Yorkshire all-rounder took two during subsequent wins over Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. He notched the key wicket of opener Martin Guptill in the win over New Zealand and reduced the trio of Lendl Simmons, Andre Russell and Darren Sammy to a combined total of just three runs in the final. He also added 21 with the bat in that losing effort and his eighth-wicket stand with Moeen Ali proved vital in seeing off Afghanistan.

Shot of the tournament: Steve Smith vs Wahab Riaz - There are literally dozens of big hits that could probably justify selection in this category, but we've gone for a particularly memorable and frankly outrageous piece of batting from Steve Smith in Australia's 21-run defeat of Pakistan in Mohali. With his side looking to increase their total, the skipper made 61 from 43 deliveries that included him embarrassing Wahab Riaz by edging wider and wider of off-stump on one particular shot.

Rather than bowl directly at the wickets to get him out, however, Riaz fell for the ruse hook, line and sinker by sending a low full toss straight at him that was duly whacked through the leg-side for four. Not his finest moment by any stretch of the imagination.

Best match: West Indies beat England by four wickets in Kolkata - The tournament certainly was not short on drama from beginning to end, with a number of hugely exciting contents from England's record-breaking run-chase that downed South Africa to their nervy win over Sri Lanka. India's last-gasp Super 10 heroics against Bangladesh are also worthy of note, as is their seven-wicket semi-final defeat to the West Indies.

But all that pales in excitement and significance when compared to an utterly gripping final. England were disappointed to have reached 155-9 in their innings courtesy of Joe Root (54) and Jos Buttler (36), but looked to have turned things around when the former showed his prowess with the ball by claiming the early dismissals of Charles and Chris Gayle. Marlon Samuels stopped the rot with a crucial 66-ball 85 and Dwayne Bravo added 25 before Carlos Brathwaite stepped up to blast four consecutive sixes off Ben Stokes' final over. Breathtaking.

Moment of the tournament: Carlos Brathwaite's heroics - A blindingly obvious choice this may be, but anyone who witnessed that final over on Sunday (2 April) will have been spellbound by Brathwaite's poise, power and sheer audacity. Stokes' sequence of ill-advised half-volleys unquestionably contributed to England's downfall, but sometimes you can only stand back and admire a match-winning turn of such quality and bravado.

Greatest success: The rise of Afghanistan - Aside from the West Indies defying previous barbs that they were short of brains and just plain mediocre, the continued emergence of the Afghans as a creditable cricketing force was the other feelgood story of the competition. Having reached the Super 10 phase by topping Group B thanks to consecutive victories over Scotland, Hong Kong and Zimbabwe, Asghar Stanikzai's side, spearheaded by the powerful batting of opener Mohammad Shehzad, pushed Sri Lanka close and gave another good account of themselves against South Africa.

They later gave England a real scare in Delhi, initially reducing the eventual finalists to 57-6 before going on to lose by 15 runs. The crowning glory came in their final match, when Najibullah Zadran hit 48 and the duo of Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan each took two wickets in a memorable six-run win over the West Indies. It was a perfect way to follow up their first appearance at the 50-over World Cup in 2015.

Considering the paucity of the facilities and equipment available in their war-ravaged home country, especially when compared to wealthier opponents, affiliate members Afghanistan's rise to ninth in the ICC T20I rankings – a number that puts them above two Test-playing nations in Zimbabwe and Bangladesh – is definitely something to be celebrated. The team were greeted with a heroes' welcome upon their return to the national stadium in Kabul last week and they were similarly well-received at a special event held in Jalalabad, Nangarhar Province.

Biggest disappointment: Empty seats - The number of clearly visible empty seats at Eden Gardens for a stunning finale was certainly disappointing. This would have been a different story altogether had India not fallen in the last four, of course, but it did not appear to be the sell-out event that had previously been advertised. Ticket issues also flared up during the opening group stage, when Super 10 qualifiers between Hong Kong-Zimbabwe and Afghanistan-Scotland were played at a near-empty Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur.