India became the first team in the the world to win an ICC Men's T20 World Cup trophy without losing a single game. They achieved the feat in the 2024 edition of the competition where they went on to beat South Africa in a final. In an edge of the seat thriller in the titular contest, South Africa eventually fell short by 7 runs in their chase of 177 runs. However, at one stage it looked like that the match had slipped away from India with the Proteas needing run a ball and having two set batters out in the middle.
As it turned out though, the Men in Blue under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma held on to their nerves, kept their calm and eventually went on to win the match to claim the title. And now in a recent interview, MS Dhoni, the former India skipper who had led India to their only previous T20 World Cup win in 2007, recalled how India went on to win the match and whether he was worried while watching the match on TV.
During an interaction, YouTuber and comedian Tanmay Bhat asked the wicketkeeper-batter currently associated with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the final whether he was watching the epic final.
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"Nahi, hum log ghar pe the, [We were at home] we were watching, some of my friends had come over. Of course, second innings jaise chalne lagi, zyada tar dost bahar chale gaye, [the way the second innings was going, most of the friends had gone out]. I was the only one sitting, doing in and out. And they were like, arey khatam ho gaya chalo naa hamare sath, [it is done, come join us outside]. I’m like, in cricket, jab tak voh khatam nahi hota haina [not until the game is over], it is not over. None of them believed, even I was questioning, in the sense, you want the team to win. But andar voh hota hai ki yaar abhi kya hona chahiye, [It was going inside, what should happen now]," Dhoni said in response to the query.
"And one of the things I firmly believed was that unke jo batsmen the, [the batsmen they had] were slightly light on the batting order. And humne aisa dekha hai ki cricket me jab pressure zor ka padhta hai to kuch bhi ho sakta hai, [And we have seen this that whenever there’s too much pressure in cricket, anything can happen]. So there was a time when they were firmly cruising but when the stakes are high and when it is very crucial, when the games are big you get a chance and you want to make the most of it. So, I feel we were able to do that. And that is why we won the trophy," he added.
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South Africa needed 30 runs to win off 30 balls but yet went on to lose the match with Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh bowling exceptionally well under pressure. India's fielding was spot on too with Suryakumar Yadav's superb acrobatic catch to dismiss David Miller with the South Africa needing 16 to get off 6 balls now becoming part of India's cricketing folklore.