“A bowler would have been my player of the match,” says Sanjay Manjrekar. The POTM award was not deserved by Virat Kohli.

From Heinrich Klaasen’s blow to Jasprit Bumrah‘s spell, it was Virat Kohli, the star batsman, who left the most impression. Kohli helped India achieve 176 runs in total as he opened the innings for his team, scoring 76 runs in 59 deliveries.

For the Indian team, the T20 World Cup 2024 concluded in pleasure. The Men in Blue won the title by defeating South Africa in the summit match, going undefeated throughout the competition. In the final, a lot of performances were particularly noteworthy.

In the post-match awards ceremony, he was also given the Player of the Match award for his efforts. Sanjay Manjrekar, a former Indian cricket player, was not pleased with the same thing, though.

With a strike-rate of 128 for nearly half of the innings, Virat Kohli’s innings were really saved by the entire turnaround.

In the important game, Manjrekar felt that the player of the match should have been a bowler and that the bowlers’ performance in the second innings prevented Virat Kohli’s knock.

One of their most potent hitters, Hardik Pandya, faced just two balls throughout that inning of play. I therefore felt that although India’s batting was strong, Virat Kohli could have played an innings that would have placed India in a precarious situation. And it almost turned out to be that before these guys’ bowlers eventually showed up,” NDTV cited Manjrekar as saying.

“India was trailing, with ninety percent of the chances to win (for South Africa).” A bowler would have been my choice for Player of the Match since they saved the match for India by taking it from the jaws of loss,” he continued.

Also Read: “I sobbed the whole night,” Gautam Gambhir says of India’s 1992 World Cup loss to Australia.

With three significant wickets in the second innings, Hardik Pandya was his team’s top wicket-taker. Axar Patel scored one run and Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh each claimed two wickets as India defeated South Africa by seven runs, needing just 169 runs to win.