India had posted a total of 176 at the loss of seven wickets against South Africa in the final of the T20 World Cup 2024 and Sanjay Manjrekar believes that they could go for 200+.
After facing the early departure of Indian captain Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav, the Indian batters recovered with the help of Virat Kohli’s innings of 76 off 59.
Axar Patel added 47 runs off 31 deliveries and provide great support to Kohli who was playing as an anchor during the innings.
After Patel was run out by Quinton de Kock, no Indian batter could make a significant difference to India’s scoreboard.
Talking on ESPN Cricinfo’s show Timeout, Manjrekar stated that “there was an opportunity lost by India.”
“Long-term plans are something that I find very tricky. Deciding very early let's not aim for 210-220 what if the pitch does get better and in the endeavour to play out a few overs like there was with Virat Kohli who was batting against (Aiden) Markram in the first six overs with just two fielders out. He couldn’t take a risk at that stage but I think in some way, there is an opportunity lost (by India),” stated Manjrekar.
Manjrekar also remarked that the three early wickets of India were what shook up the team and put them under pressure in the first innings of the game.
“India’s batting was afflicted by the fact that they were really shaken at the top with the loss of those three wickets. Whether emotions prevailed in the way they batted or the pitch is really tricky,” Manjrekar concluded.
Remember, India played their third T20 World Cup final making it their first since 2014 when they lost to Sri Lanka.
For South Africa, this was their first World Cup final appearance after eight tries. They defeated Afghanistan in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2024.