T20 World Cup Final: Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah step up India’s efforts as title drought ends | Cricket News

“He’s probably saving himself for the final. We understand his class. We understand his importance in big matches.”

It was almost as if Rohit Sharma knew what was coming.

The India captain was speaking after teammate Virat Kohli was given a nine-run stumping in the T20 World Cup semi-final against England in Guyana on Thursday, a dismissal that left one of the best batters on the planet with an alarming record in this year’s event.

Kohli’s statistics at that time read 75 runs in seven innings at an average of less than 11. His best score was 37.

He had only gotten two numbers twice. There were two ducks inside, one of them the golden variety.

But two days later, a man who previously could not buy runs racked up 76 in the final against South Africa in Barbados, scoring more in a single knock than he had managed in his previous seven combined, underlining his “importance in big games”.

Rohit achieved most things as India captain and this was another example.

“Nobody had any doubts about Virat, he has been at the top of his game for the last 15 years,” Sharma said after a seven-run win helped his side win a second T20 World Cup title and a first slice of silverware in an ICC World Cup event since the 2013 Champions Trophy.

India’s victory was largely engineered by Kohli, the batter having rallied his team from a worrying position of 34-3 in the fifth over as he parked the frenetic manner in which he had batted throughout the tournament and returned to the elegant, composed method that had taken him over 4,000 runs in the format previously.

“We wanted to lift a trophy for a long time and the opportunity made me put my head down, respect the situation and play the innings the team needed from me,” Virat said afterwards, while accepting the award. player of the match and announcing his immediate retirement from T20 internationals.

But it was largely thanks to Jasprit Bumrah that this victory was achieved. Without him, Kohli might have lost the game. Without him, it was a South African – perhaps Heinrich Klaasen – who could have won the Player of the Match award, shortly before joining his Proteas teammates in lifting the World Cup for the first time.

Like Kohli, Bumrah has underlined his importance in big matches.

Bumrah shines and India fight back with the ball

After 15 overs of chase, South Africa were favorites.

Klaasen had just hit Indian spinner Axar Patel for four boundaries in total, and three in a row, in a 24-run over. The ask was now a run-a-ball 30 off 30 with Klaasen on the verge of reaching fifty and fellow batter David Miller at the crease with him.

Surely this is where the Proteas broke their World Cup record? No, it’s not, and it’s not primarily because of Bumrah, although fellow death bowlers Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya also deserve kudos, as does fielder Suryakumar Yadav with his catch for ages.

Bumrah conceded just four runs in the 16th over, but bettered that in the 18th over when he dispatched just the two runs and sent Marco Jansen through the gate.

The Indian team finished quickly with figures of 2-18 from four overs, after bowling South African opener Reeza Hendricks with a delightful out-swinger in the second over of the innings.

That entirely achievable 30 off 30 was now 20 off 12. With the game slipping away from the Proteas, Arshdeep and Hardik, along with Suryakumar’s astonishing athleticism in the deep, ensured they couldn’t recover from the situation.

It’s heartbreaking again for South Africa, but this time in the final and not the semi-final – a stage they have never passed before after seven crushing defeats in the last four meetings .

Aiden Markram’s side – who may take some time to recover from this result – had the proverbial hand on the trophy with some of their big players making telling contributions.

Klaasen’s 23-ball fifty. Quinton de Kock has 39 off 31 balls at the top of the order. Keshav Maharaj’s wickets of Rohit and Rishabh Pant in India’s second innings. Anrich Nortje is well placed at 2-26.

It’s just that it’s the big Indian players who have made the most significant contributions. Kohli the top scorer, Bumrah the most economical bowler.

Rohit bows out after transforming India

But arguably the most telling contribution of all came from Rohit, who, like Kohli, also revealed that his T20I career was now over.

Perhaps not telling in the final, when he scored only nine before picking Klaasen at square to Maharaj, although his decision to give Bumrah the 16th and 18th overs later, as opposed to the usual 17th and 19th of the couturier, could have been a masterstroke.

No, Rohit’s most significant contribution is the transformation of this team, which was faltering and progressed in the T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final against England in Adelaide, into the leading team that she is today. Sharma epitomized this with his 92 off 41 balls against Australia in this year’s Super 8.

The irony is that it took Kohli shunning that approach and “putting his head down”, as he described it, to help India secure a score against South Africa. But perhaps that is what he should have done all along. I was the glue that held the gang of enthusiasts together.

Rohit and Kohli will now retire from this format after highlighting their importance in big matches.

Opponents might secretly wish Bumrah would do the same, but at just 30 years old, it seems like that’s not happening at all. He will still have a lot of big matches to play in T20.

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