India take on South Africa in the T20 World Cup 2024 final as Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first at the Kensington Oval Barbados on June 29, Saturday. Both the teams kept their Playing XIs unchanged for the grand finale.
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What did the captains say?
After winning the toss India captain Rohit Sharma, said:
“ We're going to bat first, looks a good pitch. We've played one game here, the scores have been really good. Just about understanding individual roles, I know it's a big occasion but it's important to remain calm and play it like it's another international game against a good team. South Africa have played some good cricket but so have we. It's going to be a really good game between two quality teams. Different individuals have stepped up at different times and that's what we're looking forward to today as well. Same team.”
Meanwhile, South Africa skipper Aiden Markram after losing the toss, said:
“Would've batted first as well, looks dry. But we get first crack with the ball so hopefully we can do well. At times we haven't been at our best but we've still managed to win and we take confidence from that. Perfect isn't possible but we want to be as close as possible to that. There's absolutely no pressure on us, we've never been in a final and we just want to enjoy it and be at our best. Same team for us.”
South Africa (Playing XI):
Quinton de Kock(w), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram(c), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi
India (Playing XI):
Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah
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Head-to-Head
India and South Africa have crossed paths six times in T20 World Cup history, with India emerging victorious in four encounters. However, in their most recent T20 World Cup clash, South Africa came out on top. Moreover, they met in a T20 World Cup semifinal in 2014, where India secured a comfortable six-wicket victory.
Pitch report
“Interesting looking surface. It's been that way all tournament. They've done a fair bit of rolling, but there's no live grass to hold it together. It's fairly hard to start with so I'm hoping the ball comes onto the bat quite nicely,” Ian Bishop analysed the pitch.
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