"It hurts quite a bit" - Aiden Markram proud of his team despite tough loss in T20 World Cup 2024 final to India
South African skipper Aiden Markram admitted that it hurts not to get over the line in the T20 World Cup 2024 final against Team India in Barbados. However, the 29-year-old equally expressed his pride at his side regarding their achievement in this multi-nation event.
The Proteas' wait for silverware continues as India snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, winning by seven runs in a nail-biter on June 29. Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to bat first and Virat Kohli's 76 set up a chase of 177. South Africa were ahead of the game for the most part but faltered in the slog overs.
At the post-match presentation, Markram said that he's incredibly proud of their achievement but felt South Africa should have got over the line.
"I think it'll take some time for us to have a really good reflection on a really good campaign that we've had. Obviously for the time being, it hurts quite a bit, but having said that, still incredibly proud of this group of players and everyone that's involved in this team.
"A really good game of cricket, so on all fronts, really chuffed with the guys today. Not great to [not] get over the line, but incredibly proud of this group of people that we've got going here in our white-ball squad."
The turning point of the match was Heinrich Klaasen's wicket when he edged one to Rishabh Pant off Hardik Pandya to perish for 52 off 27 deliveries. India shifted the pressure significantly on South Africa from that stage as they failed to score 16 off the final six deliveries.
"We never got comfortable" - Aiden Markram
With South Africa winning plenty of close matches before the final, the right-handed batter revealed that they never got that comfortable as T20 is quite fickle. He added:
"We've seen with a lot of our games in this campaign that it's not really over until the last ball is bowled, so we never got comfortable. There's always that element of scoreboard pressure, and especially at the back end, things happen quickly and can change quite quickly as well.
"But having said that, we got into a great position, which proves that we were worthy finalists and could have won the game today. Unfortunately didn't, but still incredibly proud of the group."
Virat Kohli received the Player of the Match award, while Jasprit Bumrah earned the Player of the Tournament award.