T20 World Cup, Final: How Can India Overcome The South Africa Challenge?

No defending champion has ever made it to the next final of the T20 World Cups and Rohit Sharma's India ensured that the trend goes on with a comprehensive 68-run victory over the 2022 T20 World champions, England. India have now reached a T20 World Cup final after almost 10 years and are all set to take on South Africa in the much-anticipated T20 World Cup 2024 final on Saturday at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown in Barbados. Interestingly, India and South Africa are the only sides in this tournament who are yet to lose a match.

Considering a daunting task at hand, let's have a look at how India can beat South Africa in the final.

How can India overcome the South Africa challenge?

India's spin trio a threat to South Africa

Till now, Rohit Sharma has made the best use of the slow pitches at the Caribbean venues. Indian spin bowling unit comprising Kuldeep Yadav (10), Axar Patel (8), and Ravindra Jadeja (1) has scalped 19 wickets in the tournament in a total of 47 overs bowled at a cumulative economy rate of 6.66.

Tactically, these spinners have done most of the damage in the middle overs (7-15) in the tournament, which can expose South Africa's middle order in the upcoming Grand Finale at Kensington Oval.

Indian spinners at Kensington Oval

Ravindra Jadeja: Two wickets in three matches at an economy rate of 12.14

Kuldeep Yadav: Two wickets in one match at an economy rate of 8.0.

Axar Patel: One wicket in one match at an economy rate of 5.0.

India's batting in sublime form despite Kohli's lean patch

There is something special about this T20 World Cup! Well, this time, Virat Kohli has not featured in the list of top five highest run-scorers for India. Surprisingly, with only 75 runs in seven innings, Kohli is in the