BARBADOS: India has won the toss and elected to bat first against South Africa in the final match of the T20 World Cup 2024, being played at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.
The highly anticipated final pits India, a seasoned contender in global cricket tournaments, against South Africa, who are making their first-ever appearance in a World Cup final across any format.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma highlighted the importance of staying composed and executing their plans against a formidable South African team.
“It’s just about understanding the individual role, keeping calm, and playing like it’s an international match against a top team,” Sharma stated during the toss ceremony, as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo. “South Africa have played really good cricket in this tournament, and we have also performed well. It’s a clash of two quality teams.”
South African captain Aiden Markram expressed his agreement with India’s decision had they won the toss, acknowledging the dry pitch conditions. Markram emphasized the team’s aspiration for a flawless performance in pursuit of their maiden ICC trophy.
“The pitch looks pretty dry. At times, we haven’t been at our best, but we’ve found ways to win,” Markram noted optimistically. “Today, we’re striving for that perfect game, even if perfection is not attainable. It’s a fantastic opportunity for us.”
Both teams have opted to field unchanged playing XIs from their respective semi-final matches, maintaining consistency in their lineup composition and strategy.
India Playing XI
1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Virat Kohli, 3 Rishabh Pant (wk), 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Shivam Dube, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 Arshdeep Singh, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Jasprit Bumrah.
South Africa Playing XI
1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Reeza Hendricks, 3 Aiden Markram (capt), 4 Heinrich Klaasen, 5 David Miller, 6 Tristan Stubbs, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Anrich Nortje, 11 Tabraiz Shamsi.
India, aiming to break a dry spell since their ICC Champions Trophy win in 2013, last reached the T20 World Cup final in 2014, where they were defeated by Sri Lanka. With the pressure of ending the trophy drought, Rohit Sharma and his squad face a significant challenge against a motivated South African team eager to shed their “chokers” tag in cricketing circles.
On the other hand, South Africa, playing their first-ever World Cup final, have been regarded as the “chokers” in the world of cricket due to their inability to handle pressure and losing matches at crucial stages. They reached the semi-finals in the 2009 and 2014 T20 World Cups but lost to Pakistan and India respectively.
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