SUNDAY, JULY 07, 2024
India's cricket team etched their name in history by clinching the T20 international cricket World Cup 2024 title, ending an 11-year ICC trophy drought. It last won a global tournament back in 2013 - the ICC Champions Trophy.
Their thrilling seven-run victory over South Africa at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown sparked jubilant celebrations both on and off the field.
Rohit Sharma and men stayed unbeaten during the entire tournament and their hard work paid off as India won the glittering trophy after 17 years. India won their first T20 World Cup in 2007 under the captaincy of MS Dhoni, and now, skipper Rohit Sharma did it again.
India’s ICC trophy cabinet now includes six titles. It won the ODI World Cup two times (1983, 2011), the T20 World Cup in 2007 and 2024 and the ICC Champions Trophy in 2002 and 2013.
Exactly 17 years ago, here in the Caribbean, India crashed out of the 50-over ICC World Cup under Rahul Dravid in the first round, after losing to Bangladesh at Port of Spain. Now after all these years, Team India won its second World T20 title in the Caribbean, with Dravid as the Head Coach.
It was certainly poetic justice for the Wall of Indian men’s cricket team, whose dogged defence and resilience bailed out the Indian team from crisis situations multiple times.
It was this resilience that reflected on the team’s performance and the result was, India erased one black chapter of its World Cup history and rewrote another.
This T20 World Cup edition was also the swansong for Dravid, who won’t be continuing further as Head Coach of Team India and it was also the last T20I match for the batting ace, Virat Kohli, under whose captaincy, India played aggressive cricket, but the ICC trophy eluded him and same goes for Team India captain, Rohit Sharma.
Now after this victory, the three cricketing greats of the world have bowed out with their heads held high and a long cherished dream achieved.
After losing the 2023 ODI ICC World Cup to Australia in Ahmedabad, skipper Rohit Sharma was in tears as he was crestfallen after the defeat. On Saturday again, he was crying. But this time the tears were of happiness.
The team’s detractors levelled various kinds of allegations against India, indicating that it was indulging in unfair practices to win the matches, the ICC was doing a huge favour to India by holding day matches, and was tampering with the ball to get the ball to have reverse swing.
But what India actually did was holding on to its nerves at critical situations, especially against Pakistan while defending a paltry 119 and again the finals, winning both the games by a whisker, when the chips were down.
The Indian team proved all its detractors by remaining unbeaten in the entire tournament, a feat not achieved by any team in the history of this tournament.
The difference between the results in previous ICC tournaments and this one is, it was a complete team effort. Earlier the team always depended on the big three – Virat, Rohit and Bumrah. Whenever either of them did not click, India lost.
But this time, India played like a closely knit team, demonstrating its skills in all the three departments – bowling, batting and fielding – and excelling in all the departments.
Whenever the chips were down, all the players contributed in their own way. There was no dependence on any one player. When the openers did not fire, the middle order fought hard, when the pacers went for runs, the spinners got the wickets, ably supported by the fielders.
In this tournament especially, players gave their everything, be it Axar Patel’s spectacular catch against Australia in the Super 8 match or Surya Kumar Yadav’s catch in the finals.
Of course, the extensive planning by Dravid and Rohit much ahead of the T20 World Cup, 2024 played a huge role in India’s success. Long before the tournament started, when the team was announced, eyebrows were raised after seeing names of four spinners in the team.
But Rohit Sharma was sure they would be effective in the West Indies. His vision was vindicated when the spinners played a very crucial role in securing victories for team India, especially when defeat loomed large.
One should also not forget the mental toughness shown by the players, especially Hardik Pandya, who kept his composure and made crucial contributions with bat and ball during the World Cup, considering the fact that he was coming to the tournament after a miserable performance in the IPL and getting booed and trolled for two months by Mumbai Indians supporters.
The determination and hunger was clearly visible in the eyes of Rohit, who was desperate to win this World Cup and he did it by making the team rally around him. The captain led from the front, kept his composure and ensured a happy dressing room. That’s why this team never gave up at any point of time.
There are very good quality players who are waiting in the wings to replace Rohit and Virat. But they have very big shoes to fill.
