On this day in 2024, the Men in Blue shattered a 13-year curse, claiming their first World Cup title in either format since 2011.
In a nail-biting final in Barbados, India held their composure to lift the 2024 T20 World Cup, scripting a comeback story for the ages.
The match had a disastrous start as India lost momentum early against a powerful South African attack.
In a span of just three balls, furious Keshav Maharaj dismissed Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant, and after Suryakumar Yadav was removed by Kagiso Rabada, India was in danger at 39 for 3 in five overs.
Virat Kohli, following a difficult tournament flow in which he scored in the single digits five times in seven games, decided to give up on the grandest platform.
India managed to score an above-average total of 176 runs. Thanks to Kohli’s brilliant 76 and the key contributions from Axar Patel and Shivam Dube.
The South African batsman started with a dominating start, with the contribution of Heinrich Klaasen smashing 52 runs off 27 balls and Quinton de Kock with a valuable 39 runs off 31 balls, but then Hardik Pandya broke the flow, forcing Klaasen to nick off on the very first ball of the 17th over.
Just after that, Jasprit Bumrah delivered an absolute magic spell of an inswinger that took out Marco Jansen’s wicket, swinging the momentum firmly back to India.
The final nail in the coffin arrived when Suryakumar Yadav pulled off a breathtaking boundary-line catch of the tournament to dismiss David Miller.
South Africa fell seven runs short of their dream.
Emotional Farewell for Kohli and Rohit
As celebrations broke out, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma both announced their retirement from the shortest format, adding a dramatic emotional weight to the victory.
For these legends of contemporary cricket, this ultimate mic-drop moment guaranteed that they concluded their T20 international careers at the top of the world, exactly where they belonged.
Also Read: Canada Makes World Cup History With Dramatic Win Over South Africa
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