No defending champion has ever made it to the next final of the T20 World Cups and Rohit Sharma's India ensured that the trend goes on with a comprehensive 68-run victory over the 2022 T20 World champions, England. India have now reached a T20 World Cup final after almost 10 years and are all set to take on South Africa in the much-anticipated T20 World Cup 2024 final on Saturday at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown in Barbados. Interestingly, India and South Africa are the only sides in this tournament who are yet to lose a match.
Considering a daunting task at hand, let's have a look at how India can beat South Africa in the final.
How can India overcome the South Africa challenge?
India's spin trio a threat to South Africa
Till now, Rohit Sharma has made the best use of the slow pitches at the Caribbean venues. Indian spin bowling unit comprising Kuldeep Yadav (10), Axar Patel (8), and Ravindra Jadeja (1) has scalped 19 wickets in the tournament in a total of 47 overs bowled at a cumulative economy rate of 6.66.
Tactically, these spinners have done most of the damage in the middle overs (7-15) in the tournament, which can expose South Africa's middle order in the upcoming Grand Finale at Kensington Oval.
Indian spinners at Kensington Oval
Ravindra Jadeja: Two wickets in three matches at an economy rate of 12.14
Kuldeep Yadav: Two wickets in one match at an economy rate of 8.0.
Axar Patel: One wicket in one match at an economy rate of 5.0.
India's batting in sublime form despite Kohli's lean patch
There is something special about this T20 World Cup! Well, this time, Virat Kohli has not featured in the list of top five highest run-scorers for India. Surprisingly, with only 75 runs in seven innings, Kohli is in the midst of a lean patch with the bat.
But, team India is still managing to post healthy totals in this tournament, thanks to fireworks from Rohit Sharma (248 runs), Suryakumar Yadav (196 runs), Rishabh Pant (171 runs), and Hardik Pandya (139 runs).
With almost all the bases covered, India's batting lineup looks lethal and stretches down to Axar Patel, who bats at No.8.
Caribbean pitches are India-friendly
The way India have played in the Super 8s and the Semi-Final against England has been phenomenal. The slow pitches in the West Indies have aided India's spinners and fast bowlers with genuine variations.
Furthermore, the conditions also match India's cricketing environment which has helped skipper Rohit Sharma make confident decisions in the middle. So, come Saturday, it's India who will be more at home against South Africa at the Kensington Oval.
Bumrah enjoying bowling with Arshdeep and Hardik
Mohammed Siraj was replaced by Kuldeep Yadav after the USA leg of matches and since then the Jasprit Bumrah-led pace battery has made a mockery of the batting lineups they have faced.
Arshdeep Singh (15 wickets) currently the highest wicket-taker for India has opened the proceedings with the ball in this tournament. He alongside all-rounder Hardik Pandya (8 wickets) has joined forces with Bumrah (13 wickets) in fast bowling which could be one of the biggest threats to South Africa's top order.
India need to end their 11-year ICC trophy drought
While India won the first-ever T20 World Cup in 2007, they are without a World Cup trophy since their 2011 title win and surprisingly their most recent ICC trophy came back in 2013's Champions Trophy. Since then, they have come close to winning an ICC event but have faced heartbreaks numerous times.
Now, the Men in Blue have a chance to end their barren run in ICC tournaments and that's probably the biggest motivation for India to beat South Africa on Saturday.