Best playing 11 of 2024 T20 World Cup ft. Rohit Sharma & Hardik Pandya
A long wait of 17 years ended for Team India as they clinched the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados on Saturday, June 29.
Rohit Sharma and Co. got the better of South Africa by seven runs in a tense final, defending 176 despite having their backs to the wall by the end of the 15th over of the second innings. It marked the second T20 World Cup title for the Men in Blue and their first ICC title since the 2013 Champions Trophy.
The result also marked a few farewells, with Rohit and Virat Kohli both announcing their retirements from T20Is and head coach Rahul Dravid's tenure also coming to an end.
It was in many ways a contest befitting of the finale this tournament deserved. A month's intense action saw upsets, thrills and spills aplenty with plenty of fascinating narratives headlining the journey.
At the end of it all, it was tough to lock-in the best playing XI of the 2024 T20 World Cup but we make an attempt at the same here.
Openers: Rohit Sharma (c) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk)
In a team dominated by players from India and Afghanistan, it is an Indo-Afghan opening combination that gets this playing XI started.
Rohit Sharma produced arguably his finest T20 World Cup campaign with three brilliant half-centuries on a variety of different surfaces. The Indian skipper, who will also captain this side, finished with 257 runs at an average of 36.71 and a spectacular strike-rate of 156.70.
Rohit finished second on the run-scorers' charts with Rahmanullah Gurbaz taking the top spot on that list with 281 runs at an average of 35.12. His strike-rate of 124.33 needs to be taken with a lot of extra context considering the difficult surfaces he batted on - the wicket-keeper batter was the glue that held Afghanistan's batting lineup together.
Middle-order and all-rounders: Andries Gous, Suryakumar Yadav, Marcus Stoinis, Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel
The United States of America (USA) scripted history by progressing to the Super Eight stage in their very first T20 World Cup appearance. A big factor behind that was the form of Andries Gous, who compiled 219 runs in six innings at an average of 43.80 and a strike-rate of 151.03, with a highest score of 80* against South Africa.
Taking the number 4 spot in this team is Suryakumar Yadav, who reiterated just why he is one of if not the best T20 batter on the planet. 199 runs at an average of 28.42 and a strike-rate of 135.37 may pale slightly in comparison to his usual standards but considering the many tricky surfaces India played on, Suryakumar made many a massive contribution that was critical towards ensuring that the Men in Blue maintained a clean slate at the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Australia's Marcus Stoinis was easily the team's MVP, scoring 169 runs including two half-centuries and picking up 10 wickets with his medium-pacers. While his batting strike-rate read 164.07, he struck once every 10.2 deliveries with the ball as he enjoyed a campaign to remember.
Redemption was sweet for Indian vice-captain Hardik Pandya, who sent down a memorable last over in the final. He snared 11 wickets at 17.36 apiece while scoring 144 crucial runs at an average of 48 and a strike-rate of 151.57, often rising to the occasion under numerous crunch moments for the team.
His colleague Axar Patel was outstanding, producing gems with the bat that transcended the sheer volume of the 92 runs he scored in the tournament. His 47 in the final was immense in arresting a possible collapse while he bagged nine wickets with his left-arm spin. It is worth mentioning the quiet shutdown overs he sent down in tight defenses against Pakistan and Australia, without which India may not have come out on the right side of the result.
Bowlers: Rashid Khan, Jasprit Bumrah, Anrich Nortje, and Fazalhaq Farooqi
Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan did what he does best throughout the 2024 T20 World Cup. He kept batting lineups in check and dismantled them at will too, finishing with 14 scalps at a typically miserly economy rate of 6.17. His crucial hitting with the bat came to the fore against Bangladesh, striking three sixes that proved to be the difference as his team made the semifinal for the first time.
Is there anything left to say about Jasprit Bumrah that hasn't been said already? Against Pakistan and South Africa, he was the man who brought India back from the dead. Fifteen wickets at 8.26 apiece, a wicket every 11.86 deliveries and an economy of 4.17 - the sheer monstrosity of these numbers are enough to vindicate why he walked away as the Player of the Tournament.
South African speedster Anrich Nortje may have endured a forgettable IPL but he was back to his menacing best at the 2024 T20 World Cup. As the side's chief enforcer in the middle-overs, he enjoyed a memorable tournament where he ended with 15 wickets at 13.40 apiece.
Round off this playing XI is the joint-highest wicket-taker of the tournament, Fazalhaq Farooqi. The Afghan left-arm speedster was the wrecker-in-chief in the powerplay as he blew top-orders away for fun with pace and movement. He finished with 17 wickets at an average of 9.41 and a staggering strike-rate of 8.94.
Arshdeep Singh also bagged 17 wickets, doing so at 12.64 apiece and a brilliant economy rate of 7.16 having bowled primarily in the powerplay and at the death. He narrowly misses out on making the cut to this playing XI despite his ridiculously good numbers and is the 12th man in this side.
Honorable mentions from 2024 T20 World Cup
Travis Head (Australia): 255 runs, average of 42.50, strike-rate of 158.38
Quinton de Kock (South Africa): 243 runs, average of 27.00, strike-rate of 140.46
Rishad Hossain (Bangladesh): 14 wickets at 13.85 apiece, economy-rate of 7.76
Naveen-ul-Haq (Afghanistan): 13 wickets at 12.30 apiece, economy-rate of 6.00
Adam Zampa (Australia): 13 wickets at 14.38 apiece, economy-rate of 6.67
Best playing 11 of 2024 T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Andries Gous, Suryakumar Yadav, Marcus Stoinis, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Rashid Khan, Jasprit Bumrah, Anrich Nortje, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Arshdeep Singh (12th man).
What does your playing 11 of the 2024 T20 World Cup look like? Let us know in the comments section!