India skipper Rohit Sharma opened up on his thought process during the final few overs of the thrilling T20 World Cup 2024 final against South Africa, in which the Men in Blue defeated the Proteas to end their 11-year wait for an ICC title. The Indian skipper, who announced his retirement from the shortest format of the game after India’s victory in the final, spoke about the final during an event in Dallas, USA.
After Heinrich Klaasen destroyed Axar Patel in the 15th over by smashing him for 24 runs, India had to defend 30 runs in as many balls to secure the victory. From then on, pacers Arshdeep Singh, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah bowled brilliantly by giving away very few runs in every over and side-by-side also took crucial wickets. Thanks to this death-bowling masterclass, South Africa was left 7 runs short off the target.
Here is what Rohit had to say about his thought process during the last 5 overs of the final, “Yes, I was completely blank. I don’t look too far ahead. It’s very important for me to stay in the moment and focus on the job at hand. It was very important for all of us to stay calm and try to execute our plans.”
“When we were under immense pressure when South Africa needed 30 runs off 30 balls, the five overs that we bowled showed how calm we were. We just focused on our job, not thinking much about anything else. We did not panic; that was very good from our side,” the Indian skipper added.
