On Saturday, June 29, at the Kensington Oval in Barbados, India faced South Africa in the T20 World Cup 2024 Final. Prior to the match, Rajkumar Sharma, who coached Virat Kohli throughout his boyhood, expressed confidence in India winning the World Cup. After winning the Champions title in 2013, it is noteworthy that India has never again won an ICC title. On November 19, 2023, the squad fell to Australia in the World Cup final, but they were very close to winning.
Speaking of Virat Kohli, the batsman has struggled lately, scoring just 75 runs in eight matches during the current T20 World Cup 2024.
The decision to give him the starting position hasn’t gone well for the team thus far. The team’s approach of adopting an offensive mindset during the powerplay has backed the star batter, Rajkumar continued, but he gave him assurances that he would bounce back.
Also read: T20 World Cup 2024: India vs South Africa, Finals – Who Said What?
“That we have at last arrived there and did it without dropping a single game fills me with immense happiness. I have high hopes that we will win this game and take home the trophy today. We haven’t won the ICC trophy in a long time, but today we will realise our ambition,” Rajkumar stated, as cited by Crickit.
There’s nothing wrong with his form. He is a talented cricket player. In my opinion, the team’s hitting strategy is to take advantage of any powerplay opportunities or other plans that may exist. He hasn’t run very far, but there’s no reason to be concerned. Most importantly, the team is performing exceptionally well. Given how well our spinners are performing, India appears to be quite strong,” he continued.
In the final, India chooses to bat first but loses early wickets.
In the final match against South Africa, Team India had a great start after winning the toss and choosing to bat. With three boundaries in the opening over of the innings, Virat Kohli appeared to be back to his regular self.
India was down to 23 for 2 when captain Rohit Sharma left the pitch after hitting two straight boundaries off Keshav Maharaj, and Rishabh Pant followed suit.