India’s 11-year ICC Title Drought Ends!
- In LifeStyle & Sports
- 04:22 PM, Jun 30, 2024
- Shalini Venuturupalli
Will India clinch the title? Can Rohit Sharma lead the team to victory? Will Rahul Dravid’s coaching tenure end on a high? Few of the many questions crores of Indians had before the T20 World Cup began.
All questions were answered with the tournament’s conclusion on 29th June where India clinched the title after a 7-run victory against the team who qualified for the first time to a Men’s World Cup Final. India also created history by becoming the first team to win a title, not losing a single match in the tournament.
After the schedules and groups were announced before the tournament began, India was placed in a group with the USA, Pakistan, Canada and Ireland. The Men in Blue started their campaign with a comfortable 8-wicket victory against Ireland. They were slightly in a spot of bother against their nemesis Pakistan in the next match getting all-out for a mere 119 but successfully defended that score going on to win by 6 runs thanks to the excellent bowling by their lead bowler Jasprit Bumrah well supported by his colleagues.
They were up next against a high-spirited USA team who were coming on the back of a historic win against Pakistan which was a tie and the USA won the Super Over. India’s last match against Canada was a washout but India qualified to the Super 8s finishing top of the table in their group remaining unbeaten.
All of India’s games in this stage were played in the US and they had drop-in pitches. It was not easy for the teams to play on such pitches and hence a lot of the games were low-scoring matches. But India adapted well to the conditions and captain Rohit Sharma used the right bowlers at the right time to defend low totals as well and India went on to win all the matches.
Super 8s
In this stage, India were placed with three other teams Afghanistan, Australia and Bangladesh. This set of matches was decided to be played in the Caribbean.
Match 1: IND vs AFG
Afghanistan had a high-fly start to the tournament with a huge win of 125 runs against Uganda in the initial stages of the tournament. They went on to even defeat Kane Williamson’s New Zealand by 84 runs which was unexpected. They also won against Papa New Guinea. But before finally facing India they were defeated by the co-hosts West Indies by 104 runs so there was an assumption about their confidence slightly being dented.
India won the toss and opted to bat first. Upon doing so, they scored 181 in their quota of 20 overs on the back of a half-century by “Mr. 360” Suryakumar Yadav and some cameos by the other players. Afghanistan were bowled out for 134 with a good show of pace bowling by Arshdeep Singh and the ever-impressive Jasprit Bumrah. Others like Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel too chipped in with wickets.
Surya was adjudged the Man of the Match for his innings as India won the match by 47 runs.
Match 2: IND VS BAN
Bangladesh didn’t have a very great campaign before reaching the Super 8s and they were facing India after a loss to Australia in the Super 8s match by 28 runs. India, as usual, exuberating confidence, were put to bat by Bangladesh, the decision which made Rohit happy, as he wanted it. India ended with 196 after 20 overs with a class innings of 50 from the vice-captain Hardik Pandya and other useful contributions from Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Rishab Pant and Shivam Dube. In reply, Bangladesh ended with 146 for 8 in their quota of 20 giving India victory by 50 runs. The pick of the bowlers among all in this match for India was Kuldeep Yadav getting a 3-fer. Others also chipped in with wickets. With this victory, India almost marched on to the Semi-finals.
Match 3: IND VS AUS
The day of the most-awaited rivalry. A chance to bury the 2023 World Cup Final ghosts. Australia came into the match finding themselves in a must-win situation after the loss to Afghanistan. India came in with continued confidence just wanting to make their place in semis ‘official’.
Once again, India were put to bat scoring 205 in their 20 with a scintillating 92 from the captain Rohit Sharma and some other useful cameos. Chasing in the second innings, Australia could only score 181 for 7 in their 20 overs leading to their loss by 24 runs. Consequently, they were officially eliminated from tournament.
Done and Dusted! Revenge for 2023 loss in Ahmedabad taken!
Time for the second semi-finals. India vs England and South Africa vs Afghanistan.
The first semi-final was a rather one-sided affair with South Africa getting Afghanistan all-out for a paltry 56. South Africa chased down the target in just 8.5 overs with 9 wickets in hand breaking their semi-final jinx. They marched on into their first-ever Men’s World Cup Final.
The India vs England semi-final was an exciting one. India had a bone to pick with England too. They can’t forget the 10-wicket thrashing they received in Adelaide in 2022 and were out to make sure it was payback time.
As usual, Rohit Sharma and Co were asked to set a target. They gave England 178 runs to play with in their 20 overs. India left no stone unturned while bowling to the batters and blew them away for 103 in 16.4 overs winning by 68 runs.
India avenged its loss and qualified for the final as the other unbeaten team other than South Africa.
FINAL: IND VS RSA
Both the teams were high on confidence riding into the final. South Africa wanted to break the ‘Chokers’ tag they had and India wanted to win this World Cup, especially for Rahul Dravid as this was his last assignment as coach of the Indian Cricket Team. India must win it for Dravid was also trending on social media.
Once again, India were asked to put runs on the board. Rohit got out quickly and a few others fell cheaply too but Virat held one end and had a 72-run partnership with Axar Patel who was promoted up the order. It was like Virat saved his best for the final. He scored 76 and Axar scored 47. After that, Shivam Dube chipped in with a small cameo of 27 helping India hit 176 at the end of 20 overs.
In reply, the wickets of Reeza Hendricks and Markram were taken cheaply but Quinton de Kock, Tristan Stubbs and Heinrich Klaasen’s entertaining knock threatened to take the game away from India. RSA needed 30 off 30 and India were definitely under pressure. But the pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya managed to pull it off for their team. Especially, RSA needing 16 from the last over, Hardik bowled like a champion and took his team over the line, leading India to a 7-run victory. He became the country’s ‘Hero’. The Man of the Match was Virat Kohli and The Player of the Series was Jasprit Bumrah with a total of 15 wickets in the tournament.
With this victory, India finally managed to add another ICC Trophy to its account. They won an ICC trophy after 11 years and lifted a T20 World Cup after 17 years. This was possible due to Virat’s brilliance and Rohit’s extraordinary and motivating leadership. Also, this doesn’t take away any credit from the outgoing head coach Rahul Dravid who has had an equally inspiring impact on the players throughout his tenure. An Apt Farwell for India’s Wall.
The conclusion of this World Cup also brought an end to the careers of two of India’s modern-day greats- Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Both of them announced their retirement from T20 Internationals in the post-match presentation and press conference respectively. They both have had an illustrious career for the country and have waited a long time to get their hands on this coveted trophy. Finally, when they had done it, they decided to sign off in style. What better time to do it than after such prestigious and iconic moments?
It is definitely a hard pill to swallow, the retirement of India’s ex-captain and captain. They will be MISSED!
But all we fans will hope that the youngsters in the sport too shall continue to play hard, take the nation forward in the game and continue the winning momentum.
Images provided by the author.
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