T20 World Cup 2024
– Photo : ICC/BCCI
Expansion
India became the winner for the second time by defeating South Africa by seven runs in the final match of the T20 World Cup. With this victory, India ended its 17-year long wait. Earlier, Team India became the T20 World Cup winner in the year 2007. After winning the T20 World Cup, captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired from the T20 format. After becoming the world champion for the second time, Team India’s head coach Rahul Dravid reacted. He also talked about captain Rohit Sharma’s retirement and the current players of Team India. The coach said that he was not that lucky to win the trophy as a player. He considered himself lucky as a coach.
After the final match, head coach Rahul Dravid said, “I was not that lucky as a player to win the trophy, but I gave my best. I was very lucky to be given the opportunity to coach the team. I was lucky that these boys made it possible for me to win this trophy. It is a great feeling. It is not that I had set any target. This was the work I was doing. It has been a great journey.”
On winning the T20 World Cup for the second time, ending a wait of 17 years, Rahul said, “It was a two-year journey for this T20 World Cup. Building the team, the kind of skills we wanted and the kind of players we needed. This was discussed since I started in 2021. This work was not just for this World Cup. It felt like a two-year journey.”
Rahul reacted on Rohit Sharma’s retirement from T20
Coach Rahul Dravid reacted to Team India captain’s announcement of retirement from T20 format. He said, “I will miss him as a human being. What impresses me is the kind of person he is. The respect he has shown for me and his commitment towards the team, he has never wavered in these. For me, he is the person I will miss the most.”
Rahul Dravid praised the current players of Team India. He said that the young players in the Indian cricket team today have tremendous talent. Their energy and confidence are at another level right now. In the coming five to six years, India can win many trophies.
how was the final match
Batting first after winning the toss, India lost three wickets very quickly. Virat Kohli, Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya took charge of Team India and gave South Africa a target of 177 runs to win. Enrique Nortje and Keshav Maharaj took two wickets each for South Africa. India’s bowlers dominated South Africa’s batsmen from the start, who came out to bat with a target of 177 runs. Africa lost two wickets at a score of just 12. After this, openers Quinton de Kock and Tristan Stubbs tried to handle the innings, but they too could not last long. Heinrich Klaasen batted brilliantly and scored 52 runs in 27 balls. He had brought Africa very close to victory, but Hardik Pandya’s excellent bowling snatched the victory from Africa’s hand. Pandya took three wickets for 20 runs in three overs, while fast bowlers Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah managed to take two wickets each. With this, Team India has become the third team after West Indies and England to win the T20 World Cup twice.