Though India has failed to win an ICC tournament since 2011, former India pacer Atul Wassan believes the drought will end in the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 and India will emerge victorious against South Africa in the final on Saturday.
Both India and South Africa have stormed into the final unbeaten and dominated their opponents in the semifinals — South Africa handed Afghanistan a nine-wicket defeat while India thrashed England by 68 runs in the semifinals.
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But despite South Africa’s confident performance in the event so far, Wassan feels India will win the final.
“They may not have won any trophy or title but have dominated the scene. But this time, I believe India will win the trophy because South Africa chokes on important occasions. However, you can’t say anything with certainty in T20 cricket, teams can suddenly change the course of the match, they can have a period of 4-5 overs dominance and grab the initiative decisively. More often than not, good teams win big matches, they may not do well in small matches,” Wassan told IANS in an exclusive interview.
“No doubt, the Indian team is better — we have better batters, are more renowned, have a record, better impact players and the team has been dominant through the World Cup — reached the final (ODI World Cup 2023), had played the semifinal in Australia and will now play the final,” said the former India pacer.
Wassan was also mightily impressed with the way the Indian team disposed of England in the semifinal and avenged their defeat at the same stage in the previous edition of the event — at Adelaide, Australia in 2022.
“What is important is how they stormed into the final, winning by 68 runs against England is akin to winning a Test match by an innings — a big margin. I did not expect the way the Indian team dominated them because England had crushed India in the 2022 semifinal.
“They have taken revenge against England and in a befitting manner. England just did not know what hit them, they won the toss and thought they had the advantage. But the way Rohit Sharma counter-attacked and wrested the advantage, was a treat to watch,” said the 56-year-old Wassan, who was part of the Indian team that won the 1990-91 Asia Cup.
Wassan, who played four Tess and nine ODIs for India and could have played more but for injuries that hampered his career, was also quite impressed by Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, who scored a half-century in the semifinal against England.
“The other factor was that he was aggressive from the start and despite Virat getting out, did not show any negative mindset and maintained the pressure (on England).
“We had thought that after Virat got out, Rohit Sharma’s aggression would be reduced and he would go slow for a certain period but he maintained his approach. He is a strong captain, he may look laidback but the way he has built up this team, the way he has groomed the boys, giving them the freedom to play their game, that’s a big thing for him,” Wassan said.
The former India cricketer now a noted commentator, said the Indian middle and lower-order hatters have played without fear and that has given the team a lot of confidence.
“The reason for this confident approach is that we have Axar Patel batting at No. 8. I feel that this gives batters like Shivam Dube and Ravindra Jadeja a kind of cushion and allows them to play fearlessly,” said Wassan.
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