The Indian cricket team won the T20 World Cup final despite being in a difficult situation.©AFP
The 2024 T20 World Cup was a momentous occasion for the Indian cricket team. Not just because they won, but because it marked the end of an 11-year ICC title drought. For all India’s power in world cricket, they were stumbling at the final hurdle of ICC events. Even in the 2024 T20 World Cup final, it all seemed over with South Africa needing 30 off just 30 balls after Axar Patel conceded 24 runs in the 15th over.
Heinrich Klaasen attacked Axar and the chances looked bleak. But what happened after that was historic. Bumrah gave four runs in the 16th over, followed by another four runs from Pandya, which included a wicket. Bumrah’s 18th over resulted in just two runs and one wicket. Arshdeep Singh then gave four runs in the 19th over. The equation for South Africa came down to 16, needing six balls. The last over was bowled to Hardik Pandya, where Suryakumar Yadav took a fabulous catch from David Miller in the last over to virtually seal the match.
Axar Patel told what happened after Klaasen became furious.
“For the first five seconds, yes, I thought it was over. I was discouraged, but I had this intuition that we could change the situation. Rohit bhai came to me and told me ‘match khatam nahi hua hai (The match is not over yet).’ In bilateral sets, when you take a hit, you immediately lower your shoulders and your body language shows that you have given up. But in that match none of us were ready to give up. We wanted to take this to the last dance on the 20th”, said Axar Indian Express.
Since the conclusion of the event, Axar has emerged as a pillar of the Indian team, virtually cementing his reputation as an all-format player.
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