India, finally, in a title bout for the ages
South Africa were brilliant, India were just about better
Photo credit: Chandan Khanna/AFP
Rohit Sharma’s release, Virat Kohli’s relief, Rahul Dravid’s ecstacy, it was the moment that everyone expected on Nov. 19, 2023 that came to fruition on June 29, 2024.
Amidst all that, there was Aiden Markram’s despair, David Miller’s tears, and Kagiso Rabada’s despondence. In a final between two undefeated sides coming in, an all-time classic was delivered with seven runs separating the two sides and that was only going to leave us with these types of scenes.
People have run to the word choke because it’s South Africa, but I can’t come around to watching a truly epic match like that and calling the loser of it chokers. There was Keshav Maharaj, coming back after getting reverse swept and swept for four as India made a rollicking start to take the wickets of Sharma and Rishabh Pant. When Virat Kohli and Axar Patel were turning the momentum towards India, Quinton De Kock came up with a moment of magic. Anrich Nortje very quietly finished with 4-0-26-2 and didn’t concede a single six as well as just two fours.
Tristan Stubbs and De Kock had poor dismissals but Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav were dismissed in similarly disappointing fashion. If SKY doesn’t take that catch, it’s Patel’s over — the 15th of South Africa’s innings — to Heinrich Klaasen that went for 24 runs that is talked about forever. The pitchforks would be out for Kohli being on 50 off 48 at one stage after starting with 14 off his first five balls. Even he shook his head in frustration and didn’t acknowledge reaching the 50-mark when it happened.
But Kohli smashing 26 off his final 11 balls did make a difference, and Patel’s 47 off 31 was pivotal. Stubbs and De Kock’s 58-run partnership off 6.2 overs with South Africa tottering at 12/2 absolutely was clutch while Klaasen’s 52 off 27 was one of the best knocks you’ll ever see in a T20 World Cup final. That’s what happens in a classic, the winner just happens to make one more defining play.
In basketball, there are thrilling games that go back and forth and the cliche goes that whoever gets the last shot will win. When Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic battled each other in classics we didn’t default to the loser being a choker. Argentina and France played arguably the greatest men’s FIFA World Cup final and France did tremendously well to come back from two goals down, are they chokers for losing a penalty shoot out?
History is always written in favour of the victor, and until South Africa get over the line, the public snapshot will never present their good side.
The reality is this, India’s bowling was tremendous all tournament but particularly in the clutch. Even at a run a ball, it was never over. Not because it was South Africa, but because it was a bowling attack led by Jasprit Bumrah.
Undoubtedly the best fast bowler in the world when healthy, Bumrah finished the tournament conceding 4.17 runs per over. When he bowled the 16th over that gave India a sniff, he conceded four runs. Then he bowled the 18th over and yielded just two while taking a wicket. Think about how ridiculously high he’s set expectations that he topped that ludicrous average when it mattered most.
Bumrah averages clutch and bettered it in the final. In my time watching cricket, he’s the most skilled fast bowler I’ve seen since Wasim Akram. I’m not talking about some ranking of the Top 10 overall or anything like that. Longevity matters and Bumrah is at a disadvantage there because of his injuries. In terms of how lethal his best deliveries are and how stifling his regular deliveries are, his skill is unmatched as an all-format bowler of this generation.
This wasn’t some miracle India conjured up, by the way. Remember when Pakistan needed 48 off the final eight overs with eight wickets in hand in the group stage? India conceded just 30 runs off the next seven overs while taking four wickets and made the final over an administrative affair.
How about against mighty Australia in the Super Eights? In a chase of 206, the yellow and green were marching along above the required rate at 10.41 runs an over and needing 81 off the final eight overs on a quality batting surface. Travis Head and Glenn Maxwell were coasting, striking above or around 200. India took five wickets while allowing just 56 runs the rest of the way.
Pakistan and Australia didn’t choke, and neither did South Africa. Death bowling was flat out India’s trump card at the 2024 T20 World Cup. When bowling in the final eight overs of these three matches, Bumrah had figures of 6-0-27-4. Hardik Pandya finished with 5-0-22-5 and Arshdeep Singh accounted for 6-0-51-4 (four byes included).
Win predictor was nowhere near factoring this in.
That’s seventeen overs at less than six runs per over while taking 13 wickets. If you were paying attention, India actually finished off the World Cup final the way they had their previous biggest matches in this tournament. After all the past ICC failures, they held their nerve and were consistently as clutch as you could possibly be. The second-best side in the tournament just happened to fittingly push them further than anyone else.
This is not to say the Proteas weren’t in an advantageous position with five overs remaining or that they should have been expected to lose. Rather, that India had already proven this was absolutely still a winnable scenario for them and they won it.
Did South Africa lose it? Did they choke? Russell Westbrook said it best:
SILLY POINT, SHORT LEG, AND LEG SLIP
It’s been awhile and so I’ve got a few more things to get off my chest:
SKY’s catch
How can I not talk about this exclusively? What he did is still beyond belief. In that moment, with David Miller at the crease, with Rohit Sharma already hunched over fearing the worst and hoping for the best at long-off, the possibility of 16 off 6 becoming two Miller hits needed off five, it is one of the most clutch plays in World Cup history. In T20 World Cups alone, only Carlos Brathwaite’s four sixes off Ben Stokes in the last over of the 2016 final top it.
It is so, so remarkable that Yadav actually completed the catch. You have to consider the fact that, in that situation, even preventing a six by throwing the ball back into the field of play and fielding it after returning inside the boundary would have been a fantastic play and would have earned a round of applause. With that outcome, though, Miller is still likely on strike with two runs completed and now 14 needed off five. Who knows what happens from there.
The likely result in that scenario was six, the optimistic scenario was minimizing damage by preventing six and allowing two, the dream scenario was what Yadav pulled off to break Indian minds and South African hearts.
Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid’s leadership legacy
I can’t speak highly enough of how Sharma’s selfless, aggressive intent at the top of the order changed the mindset of this team. What I saw against Australia was one of the most satisfying innings I’ve ever seen in cricket. It was as if every ounce of frustration and disappointment from Nov. 19 was absolutely unleashed. That 91 off 42 is one of the greatest innings I’ve ever seen in this format. Above all the strokeplay, it was an innings that made you feel something at your very core as an Indian fan.
Watching that innings was so cathartic, so healing, and so desperately needed for Nov. 19. You can’t avenge a World Cup final defeat without winning a World Cup, and in completing the job, that Sharma innings now goes into a class of its own.
When Kohli was struggling for form, Dravid highlighted that it was OK because he was playing the right way, with the right intent. That unity in sending a message on the brand of cricket this team wanted to play regardless of who was at the crease has been imperative to India’s success. Who would’ve thought? The Wall pushing India to aggressive standards fans all over needed some getting used to.
These two men at the helm made plenty of right calls at the right time. To think, if not for Nov. 19, Sharma and Dravid would have led a team to back-to-back undefeated World Cups across ODI and T20. This is as dominant as India has ever been on the world stage.
India’s guaranteed semifinal venue and early starts
Much has been made of logistics being put in favour of India. Yes, a World Cup definitely shouldn’t have designated semifinal location for any team. The idea it was a humungous, insurmountable advantage is silly.
Any competent team with eyes on making the knockouts would have known that they need to keep in mind that they could be playing a semifinal in Trinidad or Guyana, followed by a final in Barbados. Furthermore, if you were in the group opposite to India, you knew there was a good chance of playing India in the semifinal and so Guyana would certainly be in play. Finally, this World Cup was generally played on slow, low wickets. It’s not as if the entire tournament was played on pitches tailormade for fast bowling and suddenly India’s semifinal would be on a rank turner and so having extra spinner in the squad only benefitted them.
Anyone with serious intentions of winning this tournament would have known to lean in favour of spin at this World Cup. The West Indies did with Akeal Hosein, Gudakesh Motie, and Roston Chase. South Africa did it with Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, and Aiden Markram’s off-spin. Australia picked Ashton Agar to complement Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell when needed. I don’t need to elaborate on Afghanistan’s expertise in the spin department and the results that came with it.
Commiserations to England, Michael Vaughan, and Mark Butcher for not having enough quality spinners and not being willing to bowl Moeen Ali.
On the 10:30 a.m. local time starts, I have no support for this. Why play a World Cup outside India if the goal is only to cater to the people living in that country. This tournament was supposed to be held in the U.S. to help grow the game there, it then makes no sense at all to ignore the local fan base and put them in situations where they have to take time off from work to watch a match that early.
I was fortunate to be a part of the opening match between Canada and U.S.A. and the 7:30 p.m. local time start absolutely helped create a strong atmosphere. That should have been the case throughout the tournament.
SLIP CATCHING
Hardik Pandya has become the first Indian to be ranked as the No. 1 T20I all-rounder. He was sensational in this World Cup and I hope all the fans who booed him during this year’s IPL are thoroughly embarrassed.
The Lankan Premier League (LPL) is experimenting with a ‘Power Blast,’ an innovation that will make the 16th and 17th overs of the innings an additional two overs of PowerPlay.
While the men’s T20 World Cup was on, India and South Africa’s women played an historic Test match where India piled up 603 runs in the first innings en route to a 10-wicket victory. Smriti Mandhana (149 off 161) and Shafali Varma (205 off 197) put on 292 runs for the first wicket in just 52 overs.