Picture Credit: X
The day has finally come where India will take on South Africa in the final of the T20 World Cup 2024, set to be played at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados. Both teams enter the final without losing a match in the tournament, but for the first time in the T20 World Cup history a team will lift the title going unbeaten. As these top two quality sides take the field, there have been advice as well as predictions from former cricketers and pundits.
South Africa needs to take the nerves: Morne Morkel
In one of them, former South Africa speedster Morne Morkel also shared his piece of advice for the Aiden Markram-led side as they make their maiden appearance in the T20 World Cup final. Morkel dissected that the Protea Men should not overthink about strategies to play against the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav.
Speaking with ESPNcricinfo, Morkel said, “I think you need to play at the moment. Yes, they know that Jasprit Bumrah can take wickets up front. He is going to be crucial at death when he bowls two overs. So do they start pushing in a bit earlier in that batting innings to try and get to a respectable score?”
“Honestly, I think we cannot overthink that. Kuldeep is obviously unbelievable in the middle for India, he is a wicket-taker. He can stop the game, create a lot of pressure. South Africa needs to take the nerves are those moments out of the equation and focus ball by ball,” he further added.
For India, Arshdeep Singh has been their highest wicket-taker while he is second in the list overall after Afghanistan’s Fazalhaq Farooqi. Indian spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is also not far behind in the list as he stands at fifth place with 13 scalps from seven matches so far in the tournament. In terms of batting, Rohit Sharma has been the pick in the ongoing tournament, leading the run-charts for India while he sits at third place just 33 runs away from top run-scorer Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
