 "Rohit Sharma became the first player in Twenty20 Internationals to register 50 wins as captain. AP")
India have finally done it! After falling short of the title in multiple events, in the finals as well as in the semi-finals, the Men in Blue have finally won an ICC event for the first time since MS Dhoni and Co won the 2013 Champions Trophy, defeating South Africa by 7 runs in the T20 World Cup final in Barbados on Saturday.
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It wasn’t quite the dominant victory that India had registered in a majority of their matches in the ninth edition of the T20 World Cup. South Africa, who had won their first-ever World Cup final in either format on Thursday, were left needing just 30 to win off as many deliveries with six wickets in hand and a well-set Heinrich Klaasen at the crease.
As had been the case in their dramatic victory over Pakistan by a similar margin during their group-stage fixture in New York, the Men in Blue refused to give up despite the odds being stacked against them. The pace-bowling trio of Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh would dry up the runs in the death overs, with Pandya bowling a heroic final over to seal India’s victory.
Read | Bumrah and his unmatched talent help India snatch T20 World Cup victory from jaws of defeat
This was after Virat Kohli bounced back to form with a knock of 76 off 59 balls, scoring more runs in the final than he had managed throughout the tournament. He was well supported by Axar Patel (47) and Shivam Dube (27) and would help India recover from 34/3 to post a competitive 176/7 on the board.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsIn the process, the Men in Blue won their second T20 world title and went level with England and West Indies as the most successful teams in the tournament’s history.
Read | How much prize money will India earn after winning 2024 T20 World Cup?
Let us take a look at some of the other statistics from the final:
— India became the first team in the history of the T20 World Cup to win the tournament unbeaten.
— India’s score of 176/7 is now the highest total in the final of a T20 World Cup, surpassing Australia’s 173/2 in the 2021 final in Dubai.
— Arshdeep Singh finished with 17 wickets, the most by an Indian in a single edition of the T20 World Cup.
— Rohit Sharma became the first player in T20I history to win 50 matches as captain. Pakistan skipper Babar Azam is second on the list with 48 runs.
— Rohit and Kohli also finish as the top-two run-scorers in T20Is with 4,231 and 4,188 runs respectively.
— India are now level with South Africa and Australia as the teams with most consecutive wins across T20 World Cups. The Aussies had won 8 on the trot across 2022 and 2024, while the Men in Blue and the Proteas won as many in the 2024 edition alone. India, however, had a complete washout against Canada along the way.
— India equalled their own record for most consecutive wins in T20Is. They have now won 12 matches in the shortest format on the trot — the third T20I against South Africa in December, the three T20Is against Afghanistan in January along with their eight victories in the T20 World Cup.
— Virat Kohli received the Player of the Match for the 16th time in his career, the most by a player in T20Is. Suryakumar Yadav is second with 15 POTM awards while India skipper Rohit Sharma is joint-third with 14.