India vs South Africa, 2024 T20 World Cup: India player ratings as Bumrah magic helps Men in Blue secure title
Team India ended their long wait for an ICC trophy as they beat South Africa by seven runs in the final of the 2024 T20 World Cup at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados on Saturday, June 29. The Men in Blue won their second T20 World Cup title in history.
After Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat, India posted an around-par score of 176/7. South Africa were cruising at one stage, needing only 30 runs from 30 balls, but some excellent bowling and fielding caused them to fall narrowly short of the target.
On that note, here are India's player ratings from their T20 World Cup final clash against South Africa.
T20 World Cup 2024, India vs South Africa: Kohli anchors batting effort; Bumrah & Hardik deliver
Rohit Sharma: 3/10
Rohit started off with two boundaries but fell soon after to the left-arm spinner. His bowling changes nearly cost India the game as well, as he didn't bowl Arshdeep Singh for a third over in the powerplay and bowled Axar Patel to Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller. Nevertheless, the Indian skipper has now gone down in history and had a good tournament overall.
Virat Kohli: 7/10
Kohli made his highest score of the 2024 T20 World Cup, and it's hard to assess the impact of his knock. India needed someone to anchor the first innings, and while the opener did that well, he was also too slow to step on the pedal. He reached his fifty at almost a run a ball, which was definitely under par. However, the superstar will now retire with a T20 World Cup trophy in his cabinet.
Rishabh Pant: 3/10
Pant got out to a full toss from a left-arm spinner, a simply inexcusable outcome. The southpaw's dismissal could have seriously cost India.
Suryakumar Yadav: 6/10
Suryakumar couldn't deliver with the bat as he was caught on the fine-leg boundary but came up with a hugely important contribution in the final over of the game. His calm catch on the boundary to dismiss David Miller and virtually seal the game was simply special.
Shivam Dube: 7.5/10
Dube came up with an important cameo, striking three fours and a six in his 27. He made the most of some poor bowling to take India to a par total.
Hardik Pandya: 9.5/10
Pandya batted just one ball in the first innings and was also introduced into the attack late. He bowled superbly, breaking the game open with his dismissal of Klaasen and picking up two more in the final over. The all-rounder orchestrated a famous win alongside Bumrah.
Ravindra Jadeja: 4/10
Jadeja had another indifferent outing, not contributing in both departments. His only over went for 12 as he overpitched to Klaasen.
Axar Patel: 8.5/10
Axar's first-innings 47 was one of the best knocks of the tournament after being promoted in the batting. He kept the scoreboard moving even as Kohli meandered along at the other end and helped India recover from a poor start. The left-arm spinner was picked apart in the four overs he bowled, but he did dismiss Tristan Stubbs.
Jasprit Bumrah: 10/10
Bumrah was magical once again as he turned the game on its head in the final few overs. He bowled two magical deliveries to dismiss Reeza Hendricks and Marco Jansen, and was the biggest reason behind India's win. The Player of the Tournament should've arguably been the Player of the Match in the final too.
Arshdeep Singh: 9/10
Arshdeep did his job to perfection. His two powerplay overs set the tone for the chase, and he sent down two terrific overs in the middle overs and at the death respectively. The left-armer picked up two wickets, the big ones of Quinton de Kock and Aiden Markram.
Kuldeep Yadav: 2/10
Kuldeep picked a terrible occasion to have an off day as he often erred on the full side and never threatened to pick up wickets. He was carted for 45 runs in four wicketless overs, with his lines and lengths letting him down.