Why India deserved to win T20 World Cup 2024?

India finally won the T20 World Cup 2024, their first in 17 years since they won in 2007 in the inaugural edition. But the challenge for the Asian team was to win an ICC tournament which they were failing to do so since 2013. In some of the instances, they got close to winning but remained so far. It was a story for India for more than 10 years. 

In the ODI World Cup 2023, India seemed to be an unbeatable side till they played Australia in the final. Despite dominating the group stage and the semifinal, Australia got the better of India in their own backyard. It forced India to rethink about their strategy for the T20 World Cup 2024. Many players for the tournament were picked based on their performances in the IPL 2024.

In the T20 WC 2024, the story was similar for India like other tournaments. They dominated the group stage and won the semifinal. But in the final, India was in massive trouble. At one stage, South Africa needed just 27 runs in the last 28 balls to win the final. India ended up winning the match by 7 runs from that stage.

For all the talks about India not performing when it matters, the players really held their nerves well and pulled off an insane win. Two factors were crucial for India - Game awareness and the ability to deliver under pressure. In all the other instances, India mentally conceded the match when the going got tough. But it wasn't the case in 2024.

When SA needed 27 in 28, Rishabh Pant forced a break. It helped India to break the momentum which gave the breakthrough of Heinrich Klaasen. It was the first step in India's comeback to the game. Jasprit Bumrah led India well in the death and conceded as few runs as possible from his end and claimed the wicket of Marco Jansen. 

India also realized that it was a day game and the old ball wasn't easy to hit. Instead of relying on yorkers or bouncers, the bowling unit of Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, and Arshdeep Singh stuck to bowling in the right lengths. SA did not want to risk and defended some deliveries which proved costly for them in the end. 

Bowling performances and ability to deliver under pressure

There is a saying that bowlers win your tournament. The Indian bowlers indeed won the tournament. Arshdeep, Hardik, and Bumrah were brilliant at the death and gave little to no chance to the batters. They ensured the pressure was on the batters. A seemingly easy run chase turned out to be a nightmare for the proteas. 

Bumrah and Hardik were collectively the best death bowlers of the season. Arshdeep chipped in with crucial contributions and became the leading wicket-taker. Hardik was exceptional as a bowler and finished the games well. Bumrah turned out to be the player of the tournament. For the middle overs phase, India had the spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel.

In the batting unit, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli always tried to attack the bowlers from the word go. They tried to make the most of the powerplay. The middle-order batters tried to play the situation and reaped rewards. The finishers did their job and helped India get over the line. All of it signified that the team worked on their weakness and rectified them.

For every phase, India assigned clear roles to the players. There was clarity in the role for the players. For instance, Virat was asked to go bonkers at the top no matter what. Axar was asked to bowl an over in the Powerplay and handle the rest of the middle overs. When wickets fell in crucial junctures, he was asked to anchor the innings.

More importantly, India managed to finish out the games. Despite not having the advantage of tossing, Indian players didn't have a mental barrage. They stuck to the plans and executed well without worrying about the results. Some great captaincy and calm-headedness from the players helped India to overcome the ultimate challenge.

When things were dependent on one catch, Suryakumar Yadav did not just attempt to stop the ball from going past the boundary ropes, but went for the catch, fetching India the big wicket of David Miller. It was the ultimate show of thriving under pressure which embodied the way India went about things throughout the tournament.

In the past, India had some big void in their lineup. But in 2024, they were minimized. India showed that hard work, resilience, and patience are key for success. They showed that self-belief is one of the important factors to thrive under pressure. Indian team truly deserved to be the champions, because they played like one.