Finer Aspects of the ICC T20 WC Final 2024

A long wait ended on the 29th of June 2024. India finally lifted an ICC trophy after their victory over England in the 2013 Champions trophy while the last world cup victory was in 2011. India was tantalizingly close to winning an ICC trophy, reaching 3 finals in the past year - the World Test Championship, the ODI World Cup and the T20 World Cup. While India lost to Australia in the first two, victory was virtually snatched from South Africa’s grasp in the T20 final held at Barbados.

Everyone knows the scores by-heart now and probably all proud Indians would have watched the highlights several times but there were a lot of finer aspects which stood out. Most obvious ones were Virat Kohli’s determination and the “INTENT” he is known for. There was no wild swing of the bat nor was there any unusual rush. The timing was smooth and pleasing to eyes - Coach Rahul Dravid and Captain Rohit Sharma had remarked that Kohli was saving his best for the final. Dravid’s pat on his knee after his dismissal in the Semi Final must have rubbed off some sanity and calmness to King Kohli. Perhaps, the sheer enormity of the situation when India lost three early wickets made him relish the challenge as he is accustomed to.

He controlled his urge to open up and shepherded Axar Patel (who turned out to be a gem with his all round skills) throughout their partnership. India’s fourth wicket stand yielded 72 runs at close to 8 runs an over and whether Axar would have controlled his innings the way he did had his partner been not KIng Kohi, is a subject for separate discussion. Questions on Kohli’s ability to accelerate were literally rubbished when he slammed 26 runs off 10 balls after reaching his half century. He looked set for more but a six sent the ball out of the ground and the changed ball bounced a shade higher and India probably fell 10 runs short. Axar Patel’s complacency while running probably cost them 10 more while the move to send Shivam Dube ahead of Hardik Pandya cost them another 5 or 10 (in hindsight). Social media was already abuzz with posts about Kohli’s slow paced innings - but he did what he does best which was to steer the innings after the in-form Rohit Sharma got out early.

While India controlled the power play when they bowled, Tristan Stubbs and Quinton de Kock steadied the South African ship and later on de Kock committed a folly by repeating his pull over short fine leg only to find Kuldeep waiting - they were 106 -3 in the 14th over when he got out. Celebrations indicated that a trap had been set.

By the end of the 15th over South Africa were 147- 4 and 29 ahead of what India were at the same stage. Hardik Pandya had bowled only one over (tenth of the innings) so far giving away ten runs. Known for his uncanny knack of picking up wickets, he strangely did not bowl again till the 17th. One was left wondering if a bowling change when Klassen was thrashing the spinners would have worked in India’s favor - especially as the unfortunate Kuldeep could not find his mojo in the final.

With ball-by-ball repeat of the last 5 overs circulating in the internet, what happened next is a fairytale now- Rishabh Pant inadvertently helped to slow down the progress by calling for the physio, Klassen who was scoring at a breakneck speed lost his patience and as Pandya nailed the wide slower ball, India got a whiff of an opportunity to come back.

Rohit Sharma decided to bring back the best pace bowler of his generation Jasprit Bumrah, for his last over and the 18th of the innings - he knocked out Marco Jansen off the 4th ball. Surprisingly Keshav Maharaj walked in when Kagiso Rabada the left hander would have made sense. Maharaj blocked the first ball and Kohli swooped in from short cover to prevent the single. Then Smartly, Kohli moved back a few yards and South Africa against reason took a single off the last ball leaving Maharaj on strike needing 20 runs in 2 overs. South Africa suddenly seemed to have lost the plot by having Miller off strike. The pressure of a World cup final and their inability to find themselves on the right side of tight finishes (which they corrected to an extent against weaker teams this world cup) haunted them again.

Arshdeep Singh who had provided sufficient support to Bumrah throughout the tournament, was bowling his most important over of his career so far and he nailed it to perfection by conceding just 4 runs. Miller could not get the strike till the 4th ball - he was already pensive and jittery by then and Surya Kumar’s brilliance in the field sealed a well deserved victory for India. The only time they were really tested after the game against Pakistan was in the final and like all great teams, they managed to sneak through largely because of their self belief, resilience, the composed demeanor of the captain Rohit Sharma and definitely because of a mastermind named Jasprit Bumrah and a coach who tirelessly and selflessly worked for the team.