T20 World Cup Final 2024: India's Resilience Shines Through in Tense Barbados Finale

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The South Africans are often associated with the "chokers" tag due to their history of not winning major ICC tournaments despite strong performances. Saturday was no different.

Faced with the task of chasing 177 runs for a maiden title win, South Africa choked again to give India their second T20 World Cup in Barbados on Saturday. India too had a similar tag, as they reached the knockout stages and often being one of the top-ranked teams, faced challenges in closing out tournaments with victories.

But not anymore. The India team is the T20 World Champions and the chokers' tag stays with South Africa.

Without a boundary in 37 deliveries, Virat Kohli almost became the villain. He did what he could do after India lost two quick wickets. He anchored the Indian innings with a strike-rate of 128.81. Some thought that Kohli may have extended his T20 career by playing a slowish knock. In the end, it was his knock that helped India to salvage some pride along with Axar Patel. Otherwise, Shivam Dube was better than what he was in the previous game.

It was finally worth watching because both the teams were evenly poised to win the title. Ultimately, it came down to a battle of nerves. The Indians were better off. That is because India had the likes of Jasprit Bumrah. That is because India had a team to fight till the end. Who would survive a Heinrich Klaasen and Quinton de Kock when they are on song? The bowlers did. They have done it throughout the tournament and the final for Bumrah and Co was just another game.

The South Africans were ahead of India after 10th over as they were 81 for3 and needed another 96 off 60 deliveries. Of course, they played some abnormally close games and won them but the final was different. So, what if Marco Jansen went for runs? So, what if their captain Aiden Markram is out of form? Pressure games means holding your nerves. Even Kuldeep Yadav went for runs after bowling so well in the last couple of matches. But it was Bumrah who kept it tight all throughout. Even Hardik and Arshdeep Singh were brilliant. Just too good. Even the fielding was too good. The catch to dismiss David Miller off Pandya was a game changer in the final over. This is how sports is: Win some, lose some. Today India won!