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India will be looking to end its global title drought while South Africa will seek to shed the ‘underdog’ tag on Saturday at Kensington Oval when the tournament’s two unbeaten teams meet in the Twenty20 World Cup final.
Their perfect record and comprehensive semi-final victory left no doubt that the two best teams in this 20-team field had made it to the final in Bridgetown.
A day after South Africa halted Afghanistan’s dream winning streak in the first semi-final in Trinidad, India ended England’s title defence in Guyana, reaching their third consecutive final of the global event (in all formats of the game).
Captain Rohit Sharma will hope that third time luck will come to India, which lost both the World Test Championship final and the 50-over World Cup on home soil last year.
Rohit, 37, and stalwart Virat Kohli, 35, are both playing in this tournament, which could be their last T20 World Cup, and winning the trophy would be a perfect send-off for them.
They appear to have both the game plan and the personnel to do it.
In the batting order, Rohit embodies the Indian batting philosophy which values continuous attack more than a single winning knock from any one batsman.
Their three-pronged spin attack has been excellent in the second half of the tournament, with fast-break spearhead Jasprit Bumrah virtually unbeatable so far.
Rohit believes that calmness in the dressing room was the key to Team India’s strong performance.
“We do understand the situation, but it’s important for us to remain calm and composed,” he said.
“It helps us make the right decisions. We need to make the right decisions over the 40 rounds.”
Kohli’s scoring woes appear to be India’s only worry heading into the final, but Rohit is not worried about the form of his opening partner.
“We know his level. When you’ve been playing for 15 years, form is never an issue,” he said.
“He might have to save this game for the final.
No more necklaces?
It will be a psychological test for the opposition, with South Africa looking to shake off the baggage of reaching their first World Cup final in any format after a disastrous defeat in seven semi-finals.
Their fast break was very effective and whenever their batsmen failed, they won easily.
Opener Quinton de Kock made good use of his Caribbean Premier League experience while the midfield was also full of firepower.
Aiden Markram is a calm leader that South Africa also has, having gone on an unbeaten 10-match run as captain.
“It’s a personal motivation to get to the final and have a chance to win it,” Markram said.
“We feel and believe that we can compete with the best teams in the world and that we can win trophies. It’s great that we have that chance now…”
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