India finally ended their decade long wait for a major trophy as they defeated South Africa in the T20 World Cup final in a thriller in Barbados on Saturday.
India looked to have posted a challenging score of 176-7 batting first. Virat Kohli had struggled for the entire tournament and had to dig deep into his reserves in the final after India lost three wickets early.
Kohli put together a composed 76 off 59 balls in the company of Axar Patel (47) and Shivam Dube (27) to help India post the biggest total in a T20 World Cup final.
South Africa too struggled at the start before finding their rhythm. Heinrich Klaasen (52 from 27) seemed to have ended the contest when he smashed Axar Patel for 24 runs in the 15th over.
With 30 needed from 30, the match seemed done and dusted. But India's pacers pulled things back brilliantly, with Hardik Pandya (3-20) snaring the dangerous Klaasen and later David Miller in the final over – the credit of which should go to Suryakumar Yadav who took an all-time great catch on the boundary ropes with the title on the line.
India's seven-run win was just reward for their consistency that had taken them to the finals of the 2023 World Test Championship and ODI World Cup finals.
However, it must be noted that India entered the tournament not as one of the favourites. They had gone with 'safe' selections, keeping dynamic T20 specialists like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson and Rinku Singh out of the mix.
But the surprisingly difficult nature of surfaces in the tournament meant players with experience of playing longer formats flourished.
Captain Rohit Sharma led the way by setting the tone at the top in the power play. Even though Kohli failed for almost the entire tournament, the middle order of Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya and the rest did enough to help post above par scores.
The bowling revolved around the irrepressible pace Jasprit Bumrah and the spin of Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel.
The Indian team will be glad to have a World Cup trophy in their cabinet after successive disappointments over the past decade, none more so than last year's ODI World Cup where they looked streets ahead of the rest of the teams, only to lose to Australia in the final.
For Rohit and pace ace Bumrah, it was an especially memorable day as they finally got a World Cup winner's medal to show for their stupendous contribution to the game and Indian cricket.
Player ratings for the Indian team at the T20 World Cup can be seen in the picture gallery above. To view the next image, simply swipe or click on the arrows.
