India's greatest generation breaks 11-year ICC Trophy drought
Indian pacers restrict South Africa to 7/58 in 11 overs to pull off the impossible.
A final for the ages!
For the last 2 years, India has talked again and again about playing fearless cricket. Taking on the opposition bowlers when batting first, even if they lose a couple of early wickets in that process. But never before did the whole team seem fully committed to this approach. Even in the big Semi-Final versus England, Virat Kohli walked away and tried to hit another six within his first 10 balls.
And yet, in the Final, after the loss of the 3rd wicket, Virat Kohli went into his shell. While his conservatism until the 8th or 10th over was still understandable, the fact that he wasn’t able to hit a boundary until the 18th over was certainly a cause of concern. It was perhaps summed up best by Arjun Dev (Shreyanka Patil’s cricket coach), Kohli’s knock ensured India didn’t get bowled out for 130-140, but they hadn’t quite batted the South Africans out of the game.
No matter whether you defend or criticize Kohli’s knock, for the 1st time in the tournament, India did NOT get an above-par total. South Africa’s top six batters, particularly Stubbs, Klassen, and Miller are fantastic players of spin and a target of 177 seemed about 10-15 runs short. Throughout the World Cup, India’s spin duo of Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav have been outstanding with occasional support from Ravindra Jadeja.
However, today was not going their way. After consistently going at more than 10 an over against Kuldeep Yadav and Jadeja’s 1 over - Henrich Klassen took down Axar Patel’s over for 24. With 30 needed in 30 balls, it was all. One more knockout game fumbled, one more ICC trophy slipping through their grasp. But then came India’s pace trio in Arshdeep Singh, vice-captain Hardik Pandya, and the magician Jasprit Bumrah. Ball by ball they executed a well-thought-out plan and started piling the pressure. Pandya took the crucial wicket of Klassen with a slower delivery, while Bumrah cleaned up Marco Jansen with a beauty. Arshdeep showed why the team management trusted him and ensured Pandya had enough to defend in the 20th over.
I haven’t even mentioned Arshdeep’s early wicket of South Africa’s skipper Aiden Markram. Bumrah’s delivery of the tournament to Reeza Hendricks has been forgotten. The pacers walk away with 7 wickets for 58 runs in 11 overs as India has managed to flip a game where their win probability was less than 4% with 35 of the 40 overs completed. Yes, I am a little biased, but if there’s a T20 World Cup Final that can compete with that 2007 India-Pakistan game, this is it!
Jasprit Bumrah is a World Cup Winner.
It’s a widely accepted fact that Jasprit Bumrah is the World’s all-format bowler. Not because he’s the overall best across the three formats - but because he is the best bowler in every single format. Such is his threat that bowlers who bowl the overs before or after him get more wickets.
This wasn’t Jasprit Bumrah’s first great World Cup campaign. In 2019, making his ODI World Cup debut, the Ahmedabad slinger picked up 18 wickets in 9 matches, with an economy of just 4.41 - the best amongst bowlers with 8 or more wickets. It’s not even 2nd great World Cup campaign. Last year, while Mohammed Shami’s incredible spells took him to the top of the wicket charts with 24 scalps, Bumrah wasn’t far behind with 20 wickets, once again at the best economy rate.
Ending this campaign with an economy of 4.17 (and 15 wickets) when the closest for bowlers with 10 or more wickets is conceding 5.74 runs an over, he has taken his game to another level altogether. Despite all the video analysis, all the exposure to his lethal deliveries while playing IPL, and all the dissection around why he is so good - the batters of the world had no answers.
Every member of India’s campaign deserves this trophy, but not one can honestly claim to have made a bigger contribution than Jasprit Bumrah.
India’s greatest generation breaks the jinx!
There’s been a lot of focus on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, particularly after both announced that this match was their last T20 international and rightly so. They have been stalwarts serving Indian cricket handsomely and while they deserve all the accolades they are receiving, this is the format they were least dominating at. But this Indian team has some breathtaking cricketers, each a match-winner on their day, and everyone made a significant contribution to this outstanding campaign where India became the 1st to win a T20 World Cup while remaining unbeaten.
Suryakumar Yadav has been India’s best T20 batter for a while and Rabada’s reaction to his wicket today showed that South Africa knew this as well. His demolition of the English bowlers ensured India scored well above par on a slugging Guyana pitch. Rishabh Pant was quite lucky in the Pakistan game but the fact that he was happy to play small blinders despite a terrible cricket pitch showed India’s intent and almost propelled them to an unthinkable 140 in New York. And he repeated this on multiple occasions in this campaign.
Axar Patel’s 47 in the final was an outstanding knock to go with his 9 wickets and some incredible PowerPlay bowling, particularly in the Semi-Final against England. Despite the doubters, it was clear there wasn’t an Indian player who had the versatility and quality of Hardik Pandya. Not only did Pandya provide some quick-fire runs in the tournament, but he gave Rohit Sharma a 3rd pacer and even death bowling option and did that job brilliantly in the all-important final.
Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav may have not had a great day in the Final, but he was superb throughout the tournament. Amongst all T20 bowlers with 20+ international wickets amongst major nations, no bowler has a better strike rate than Kuldeep Yadav. Yuzi Chahal, his partner from his early days in an India jersey, was also part of the XV and must be so happy for Kuldeep. Arshdeep Singh was earmarked for his ability for early wicket and as a brilliant death bowler, and despite some ups and downs, has ended up as India’s leading wicket-taker.
This team’s dominance in the last two World Cups should be enough to make people realize their greatness, but fans, media, critics, and players themselves consider it incomplete if the campaign ends without a trophy. India in the last 8-9 years under Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma has been a peerless side. It’s time to acknowledge India’s greatest generation and one of the best in the history of the game.
Fittingly, they are World Champions!
