It's been less than a year since the previous last World T20, and already another edition of the tournament is complete. This time, it wasn't a case of much of the same, as two teams who had not progressed to the final in either of the previous versions of the competition, got all the way to that magical podium. In fact, the tournament gave rise to a treasure chest of new information, adding to the already cluttered library of cricketing facts. In keeping with traditions of the beloved sport, here's 11 lessons from the latest World Cup:

1. Afghanistan are the strongest of the minnows and they've just started:

Besides the Cinderella story of a cricket team who emerged from a war zone and fought their way from Division five to qualifying for one-day international status and the World T20, this team has real talent. They were never expected to make it to the Super Eights but put on an impressive display against the two major powers they were up against in the group stages. Afghanistan bowled particularly well against South Africa, restricting them to 139 for seven. Hamid Hassan showed all the makings of a future great with his three for 21.

Like most of the newer teams, they were most vulnerable against the short ball. That said, Afghanistan put on more runs than Ireland and Zimbabwe in their two matches, although the latter two did have rain affected games.

The only way they can get better, is through constant competitive cricket. Worryingly the number of teams putting their hands up to go and tour Afghanistan still stands at zero, never mind that they don't have a stadium that's good enough to play in. The ICC will have to make a big effort to organise tours of Afghanistan away from home (Dubai has been bandied about as a possible venue) and who knows, in 20 years, they could have a Lankan style story to add to their fairytale?

2. India and Pakistan should not play major tournaments in the Caribbean:

While the new Asian team on the block was stunning everyone with their progression, two of the oldest were on a hiding to nothing. That's a bit harsh on Pakistan, perhaps, who did make it to the semis but their record of two wins in five matches is hardly anything to boast about. They were incredible against South Africa and unlucky against Australia but were also responsible for their own downfall. Pakistan suffered some severe inconsistencies and the absence of key personnel and can probably be considered fortunate that they managed to find a squad of players who were not banned by the PCB to pitch up.

India also had just two victories but didn't even advance as far as the Super Eight stage. In both 2009 and 2010 editions of the World T20, they've been forgettable and both times, came into the competition off the back end of an IPL season. Their last outing to the West Indies was also embarrassing (2007 World Cup) and they have a lot of soul searching to do in multi tournament events.

3. Some good things come from the IPL:

Of course the IPL should not only be berated for tiring players out, but celebrated for giving them an opportunity to show off their abilities and earn subsequent reward. Dirk Nannes, the competition's leading wicket taker, made a name for himself in the IPL. Kevin Pietersen found form in IPL 3 which carried over in a big way to the World T20 and the Murali Vijay earned a place for himself in the Indian squad with his performances in IPL3.

4. Proper cricketing shots still have their place:

One of the men whose prolific form from the IPL also translated into World T20 success was Mahela Jayawardene. The difference between him and many other twenty-over batsmen is that Jayawardene has yet to become a bludgeoning beast. He has kept his finesse, elegance and class and still managed to end up as the tournament's highest scorer. He scored a scintillating century in the IPL to tease our taste buds and then served it up again against Zimbabwe.

5. Just because the pitches are slow doesn't mean quicks can't get wickets:

It wasn't just a tournament for the batsmen. Twenty-over cricket seems to have evened out into a fair contest between bat and ball. Just ask Shaun Tait, Dirk Nannes and Mitchell Johnson. They three made merry, albeit more so on the bouncier Barbados track, but also extracted something out of the St Lucia surface. Ashish Nehra, Ryan Sidebottom and Morne Morkel all had varying degrees of success, proving that the pacemen were not left out of the spinners' party.

6. South Africa are going backwards:

Not everything about the tournament could be a smiling positive and for the Proteas is certainly wasn't, and they didn't even choke. They were never playing good enough cricket to do that. South Africa came into the event as a favourite and once again disappointed. They have now gone 12 years without ICC silverware and the pressure from the public is mounting for a change in just about anything. Graeme Smith offered absolutely no excuses, saying his men simply weren't good enough. They looked unprepared, particularly in batting-wise and will need to focus on a personnel adjustment and building a solid, specialised twenty-over squad.

7. New Zealand are perennial bridesmaids

Maybe because they are called Black Caps, they never want to wear a white dress, but these days brides appear in other colours too. The have managed to escape South Africa's fate of being labelled chokers, but they have earned the ignominy of being second-best all the time. This time, they were bamboozled by England in the super eights. While they have a good side on paper, they seem to lack a special spark - something they will want if anyone is to ever lift their veil and plant a big, fat trophy in their arms.

8. Australia don't have to be the best at everything:

And thank goodness for that! The World T20 crown is still evading them and all the rest of the cricketing world can say is long may it continue. On a serious note, Australia have made some sincere steps to take the shortest format of the game seriously and with a new side and a changed attitude, they will continue to be in contention for the prize in the future.

9. England can win the game they invented:

It took long enough but finally England have managed to capture first prize in the sport they take credit for pioneering. Ironic then, that four of their winning party aren't even English. None of that seemed to matter when Paul Collingwood hit the winning runs and the squad stormed the field. How very unEnglish to run about like a bunch of buffoons, and how very heart-warming to see years, no decades, of hard work finally paying off.

10. Tournaments don't have to be long and boring:

Pay attention to this one Lalit Modi or whoever takes over from you. In two, relatively short weeks, this tournament was history. In fact, it could have been less if the pesky group stages were left out of it. Yes, ICC, we understand why you need to have them and they do bring success (refer to number 1), so we won't complain too much. The point is that having a short, sharp tournament meant almost all of the games were contextually meaningful, no one forgot who the team in blue was (as happened in the IPL with three of eight teams wearing the same colour) and by match 17 weren't we all wishing for a countdown to the end. Next year's IPL is predicted to have 94 matches. Spare us.

11. And lastly, to the weather gods: stay away from twenty-over cricket:

The Duckworth Lewis system doesn't work for it. Enough said.