India and South Africa will face off in the final of the T20 World Cup at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown on Saturday hoping to end their long wait for a global title. The two sides will leave no stone unturned as they strive hard to shed the chokers tag and become the first team to emerge champions with an unbeaten record.
The Men in Blue and the Proteas have been the sides to beat in this edition of the mega event. South Africa have notched up eight victories on the trot. Rohit Sharma's men have won seven games, while the match against Canada was washed out.
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The two teams have almost all their bases covered. Both outfits boast of an explosive batting line-up, a potent pace attack and have quality spinners in their ranks. The fielders too have backed up their respective sides brilliantly.
South Africa have had to wait for 32 years to make it to a World Cup final -- ODI and T20I combined. Aiden Markram & Co. have found a way to get the job done from tough positions. They were stretched by the Dutch, Bangladesh and Nepal in the group stage. They prevailed over England and West Indies in the Super Eight stage before ending Afghanistan's fairytale run in the semifinals.
Opener Quinton de Kock and the dangerous middle-order trio of Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller and Tristan Stubbs have made vital runs for the Proteas. The pace trio of Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen and Anrich Nortje have made life hell for the batters, while left-arm spinners Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj have given nothing away.
India on the other hand have relied on the firepower of skipper Rohit at the top of the order and the brilliance of Suryakumar Yadav in the middle overs. The likes of Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube and Axar Patel too have chipped in with vital cameos. Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has been simply sensational and left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh has complemented his senior partner. Pandya has been steady as the back-up seamer. Spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Axar have kept the batters guessing and picked up important wickets. Virat Kohli's lean run in his new role as opener and Ravindra Jadeja's poor form with the ball will certainly worry the Indian team management. However, Rohit and outgoing head coach Rahul Dravid will be hopeful of the senior pros coming good in the crunch game.
It has generally been a low-scoring tournament. The team winning the toss is likely to bat since the wicket is expected to slow down as the match progresses. India have won their last four games while defending totals -- thrice they were put in to bat though. The Indians will draw confidence from their convincing wins over Australia and England.
This is India's third final in the tournament history. A majority of the Indian players were part of that heartbreaking loss to Australia in the summit clash of the ODI World Cup at home last year. Rohit will be desperate to end India's 17-year wait to regain the title and it could well be his final chance.
Both India and South Africa have been labelled for long as chokers for their inability to come good in the knockout phase of the World Cups. On Saturday, it will be redemption for one team, while the other will plunge into further despair. It's a case of who wants it more on the D-day.