Three down inside the powerplay itself, Proteas bowlers fired in unison as India opted to bat. But at other end stood Kohli as solid as rock and played the anchorman role to perfection.
In the high-pressure T20 World Cup final in Barbados last week, a competitive 176 for 7 was posted by India thanks to star batsman Virat Kolhi’s solid 59-ball 76.
First he stopped India’s slide with a 72-run partnership with Axar Patel then he led them through the second half along with Shivam Dube and others taking India to a decent total.
However ex-cricketer turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar thinks Kohli’s innings was too slow and could have put India in a tight corner.
In rekindling the Kohli strike-rate debate that had haunted the opener during IPL, Manjrekar said that Kohli’s conservative approach didn’t give enough time for someone like Hardik Pandya to spend on pitch.
“By playing that innings, Hardik Pandya, one of their most devastating batters, had just two balls to face. So I thought India’s batting was good, but Virat Kohli had potentially played an innings that would’ve put India in a tight corner. And it almost proved to be that, before these guys’ bowlers came in the end,” Manjrekar told ESPNCricinfo.
India bowlers performed nothing short of miracle turnaround as Proteas batters choked during chase when six wickets were up with 30 need off 30 balls.
Manjrekar said that bowlers rescued Kohli or else there might have been questions about his intention in this finale.
“There is very scary development going on here right now,” he said. “India were in a losing position; (South Africa) had more than a ninety percent chance of winning.” The complete turnaround actually saved Virat Kohli’s innings because he played virtually half the innings with a strike-rate of 128. My Player of the Match would’ve been a bowler because they actually took the game from the jaws of defeat and won it for India,” he added.
India ended an over-a-decade long ICC title drought as Rohit and Co. won the thrilling finale by 7 runs.
The 2024 T20 World Cup title is now India’s second in this format after winning the inaugural edition in 2007 with legendary MS Dhoni at helm.
