The summit clash of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 saw the high-profile battle between the Rohit Sharma-led India national cricket team and the Aiden Markram-led South Africa national cricket team on Saturday, June 29 at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown. Barbados. This was the first time that two unbeaten teams faced each other in an ICC T20 World Cup final.
By winning the toss and batting first in the match, India finished with a good total of 176/7 on the board. Virat Kohli emerged as the team’s best player as he scored 76 off 59. Axar Patel (47) and Shivam Dube (27) also made good contributions to help their team register a good score.
With the ball, India started well but at one point the equation came down to 30 off 30 for the Proteas. It looked like Heinrich Klaasen would seal the victory for the Proteas, but Hardik Pandya made the breakthrough and the momentum shifted to India, who won the match by 7 runs.
After the match, Indian captain Rohit Sharma said that they have worked really hard over the last few years and played as a team to finally get the trophy. Rohit Sharma said:
“It’s very difficult to summarise what we’ve been through over the last 3-4 years. To be honest, we’ve worked very hard as individuals and as a team. A lot of things have happened behind the scenes for us to be here today and win this game. It’s not what we’ve done today, it’s what we’ve been doing over the last 3-4 years. That’s the result we’ve got today.
“We have also played a lot of high-pressure games in the past and we have also been on the wrong side. But the boys understand what needs to be done. Today was the perfect example of when your back is against the wall, which is “We we stuck together as a team and the boys, all of us, even when at one point I was looking towards South Africa.”
Rohit Sharma further explained how desperate they were to win the ICC trophy after facing back-to-back heartbreaks. Rohit Sharma stated:
“Overall, as a team, as a group on the field, we wanted this with all our might. We wanted to win it. To win a tournament like this, you have to do a lot of work behind the scenes, you have to put in a lot of effort, you have to work as a team. I am very proud of this group of guys that I have and also of the technical direction for giving us the freedom to go out and play, for having that confidence in each of us. That has to start with the technical direction, the coach. , the captain and then the players go out and do it. I think we were fantastic throughout the tournament.
Talking about Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma said that they never doubted the batsman despite his poor run of form as he has dominated world cricket for 15 years. Rohit Sharma stated:
“Neither I nor anyone else doubted Virat’s form. We know the quality he has, he has been at the top of his game for 15 years, when the occasion comes, the big players stand up. Virat was holding that end, which was very crucial for us, and the others played around him. For us to get to that total, it was a team effort. We wanted someone who would bat for as long as possible. These are not wickets where you can come and bat freely and keep the scoreboard going straight away, so we understand that. We wanted someone who would bat for as long as possible and Virat did that perfectly. That’s where Virat’s experience shows. The other guys who were around bowled really well, Axar’s knock of 47 was also very crucial.”
Rohit Sharma also heaped high praise on Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya for their exceptional performance throughout the competition and for helping India win the trophy. Rohit Sharma stated:
“(On Bumrah) I can understand you trying to explain it in words, but I have seen him for many years, I have even played alongside him, but even I don’t know exactly what’s wrong with him. I know exactly what he brings, but how he does it is A true marvel. He shows off his skills, which is more than enough, and he is a very confident boy, he executes everything he wants to do to perfection, which is a very rare thing to see. To put it in a word, he is a first-class player.
“Hardik was brilliant as well, bowling that last over, no matter how many runs it took, to bowl that last over, I’m so proud of the lads. Absolutely fantastic, from New York to Barbados, I just want to salute them, for them to come and support us like they have and even back home in India, millions are sitting and watching, it’s late at night in India, I’m pretty sure they’re awake watching this. They’ve been waiting for a long time, as have we. This is for them. We’re very, very proud of what we’ve achieved today.”
India’s journey in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024
In the league phase, the Indian national cricket team was placed alongside the Pakistan national cricket team, the USA national cricket team, the Canadian national cricket team and the Indian national cricket team. of Ireland in Group A.
The Men in Blue, as expected, played brilliant cricket and finished the group stage unbeaten, although not with a full eight points.
On June 5, Rohit Sharma’s men defeated Ireland in their first match comprehensively by 8 wickets with 46 balls remaining and Jasprit Bumrah won the Man of the Match award for his figures of 2/6. The second match turned out to be tense for the Indian team as they played a low-scoring thriller against arch-rivals Pakistan on June 9. They snatched victory from defeat against Babar Azam’s team and won by 6 runs with Bumrah. winning his second consecutive Man of the Match award for his figures of 3/14.
India next faced the USA and as expected won the match comfortably by 7 wickets and 10 balls remaining on June 12. It was Arshdeep Singh who won the Man of the Match award against the USA for his spell of 4/9. Rohit Sharma’s side was all set to play their last group stage match against Canada but the game was called off due to rain and India finished with 7 points and a good net run rate of 1,137.
As India entered the Super 8 stage, they continued their dominant run and beat Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Australia to record a hat-trick of wins and book a place in the semi-finals of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. The Men in Blue beat the Afghans by 47 runs, the Bangla Tigers by 50 runs and the Australians by 24 runs.
The Indian team then played the semi-final against England as the champions as they posted 171/7 on the board for the first time, thanks to Rohit Sharma (57) and Suryakumar Yadav (47). And then with the ball, Axar Patel (3), Kuldeep Yadav (3) and Jasprit Bumrah (2) combined to destroy England and bowl them out for 103 to help India win by 68 runs.
