Bridgetown: India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat against South Africa in the final of the T20 World Cup here at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, on Saturday.
On their way to the final, the Proteas recorded an authoritative nine-wicket win to end Afghanistan's dream campaign, India defeated England by 68 runs and took revenge for their defeat in the semis of the 2022 edition.
Both teams have had a contrasting run in the tournament. The Rohit Sharma-led side has dominated each side that they have faced in the tournament, including heavyweights like Australia, Pakistan, and England.
While the Proteas have, on numerous occasions, escaped defeat by a narrow margin en route to the final Bangladesh and Nepal gave them a run for their money in the group stage. In their final game of the Super 8 against the co-hosts, the West Indies, they almost sealed their exit while chasing the revised target of 123. They lost a couple of wickets towards the end but Marco Jansen came to the rescue and sealed a three-wicket win.
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After winning the toss, India skipper Rohit Sharma said, "We're going to bat first, looks a good pitch. We've played one game here, and 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.
South Africa captain Aiden Markram said during the time of the toss, "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."
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah
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.
—ANI