INDIA ARE T20 WORLD CUP CHAMPIONS AGAIN

[00:00:17] I'm joined by Varun from Singapore and at some point during the episode, we're hoping to have Ashwin on with us as well. So you will have a full house at some point just bear with us. It's a little late for Varun.

[00:00:28] So I'm going to try and get him to give you his full energy as he always does. Varun, I'm gonna put some numbers in front of you. 11 years since we last won an ICC trophy, 17 years since we last won the T20 World Cup after a heart-stopping final.

[00:00:47] India are T20 World Cup champions again. Now, if that hasn't got your goosebumps up by now, I don't know what will. How is the Josh? Dude, it is very high and I just want to add one more stat to what you said.

[00:01:04] India has not won a World Cup in 17 hours, my friend. It's no longer 17 years. It's been broken that curse of the finals, the semifinals, the knockouts, the swing bowlers getting us out. Like how much we've lived through for our listeners.

[00:01:21] This is the first time in six plus years of the podcast that we get to we get to come on after India has won. Like yes, we've come on a lot after India's won an Asia Cup, but we have never done this.

[00:01:37] Like it is a unique feeling as DJ says, it was weird last night. Like there was so many ups and downs and then when India won, I kind of just sank back into my couch and it was just relief.

[00:01:53] And then they had never even kicked in like once I realized we have won and the trophy is ours. Then I got excited. So it did take me a couple of minutes, but that's the history that we've been through in the last 11 years.

[00:02:06] Yeah. And I want to give a shout out to all you listeners that have stuck with us for the last six years that India have gone up and down. We've had knockout losses. I mean, there have been a lot of lows.

[00:02:21] So I think this one is pretty special, not just for us before all our listeners as well. But it's a little bit of a different episode because we've celebrated test match wins. We've celebrated two wins in Australia, but we've not got to celebrate Baron A

[00:02:36] multilateral ICC trophy win ever. So this one, I think we're there to console you when we lose, right? So the 20th of November 2023, we were around the 13th of July 2019, we were around. But the 30th of June 2024 is a different feeling. You've woken up feeling like winners.

[00:02:58] I can see Rohit Sharma has posted a picture of him wearing his eye mask with like the World Cup trophy next to him. Like Messi did. Yeah. And what a year it's been. I mean, the World Test Championship final we lost. We lost the World Cup final famously.

[00:03:16] And the third format has finally borne fruit. The one that Rohit Sharma won in 2007. It was the first format that he played for India. He's now retired along with Virat. We're going to get into all of that, but an unbeaten run to the final. And it's happened before.

[00:03:35] So now think about it. Like I think it's like we won 19 out of the last 20 games in ICC knock, like ICC trophies in the last six months. That's how crazy the status. We lost that one game.

[00:03:50] But basically I can't think of a team that has reached the finals of three different formats within a 12 month period. Like twice in the test format. Yeah. If that is not total domination, I don't know what it is.

[00:04:06] So this era of players is cut from a different plot. They are, I mean, they are world champions today. They have been world champions in our minds for a long time. It was just about getting it over the line.

[00:04:19] And DJ as we get into it, it wasn't an easy final for us by any means. I had given up hope. Oh yeah, we get into that. We have to get into that. So we'll get into that. We should get into the reactions of the players,

[00:04:35] some announcements made after the game. There's too much to cover, but it is finally here. And as I see Vishal Saxena said, we are champions guys. We finally did it. That is basically summarizing how I felt yesterday. We finally did it.

[00:04:54] Yeah. And the shortest format ended the longest wait for the Indian fans, right? Because I mean, we were in different phases of our lives when India last won an ICC trophy in 2013. Of course, the World Cup in 2011, the Dhoni era, so to speak.

[00:05:09] But this is the Rohit era now. But of course, India made the semifinals. I don't want to get too much into the semifinal against England. It was India did magnificently actually and kind of pummeled the defending champions. Similar game for kind of one-sided semifinals on both sides,

[00:05:29] Afghanistan losing very badly after a very euphoric kind of qualification into the Super 8s for South Africa to knock those runs off and get into the finals. But then you had two unbeaten teams getting into the final for the first time ever.

[00:05:43] You would have an unbeaten T20 World Cup champion. Was that did if you'd said India was South Africa in the final, did you have a feeling that that would be the final you would have said India Australia maybe?

[00:05:57] Yeah. I mean, the thing is South Africa also has like so spare a thought for the South African team, right? They've also got their own history that they are battling with the same way we have battled

[00:06:08] with ours. It's just that ours has a has a time stamp to it. theirs has no time stamp to it. The problem of catching selecting South Africa for a final is that they have never made it to a final

[00:06:23] and so as just people who just enjoy the game, it's very hard to predict that they will make the final now. They did well. I think they had a lot of close games man like that Nepal game

[00:06:35] and stuff like it was close. So they were a squad that I think had the weaknesses. I think if you ask me, there were one batsman short. Let's talk about that actually. That's a great point because I want to talk to you

[00:06:51] about the makeup of these teams. Now before we this World Cup started, we talked about the preview of the squad. I was like there's so many test players and this squad is the right squad. We've paid, where's Rinku saying we had a lot of discussion around

[00:07:08] that we were doing the same thing over and over again expecting different result. The conditions were how much did the conditions play into India's favor first because of course you had to have bowlers that could bowl seem you had to have spinners. You had to have batters who

[00:07:22] could play the new ball who could like bite that time you had to have it. So if this had been played say in Dubai or the UAE or South Africa, maybe it would have been a different result.

[00:07:34] Yeah, it probably would have. So the conditions I think, I don't say they would favor India. I think in A, they were familiar to India and B, India prepped for it. Like if you remember that press

[00:07:45] conference when the selection happened, there were these four spinners announced and Rohit said it's a secret. I'll tell you later why should I reveal now and you kind of understood that you know, like even in that South Africa, I think it was Nepal game or something.

[00:08:00] They didn't play the two spinners and Markram had to come out later and say that so yes, the makeup of the South African team just very quickly to end this is I think they were a batsman short. I think generally through the tournament,

[00:08:13] Mako Yansen should have been coming in one level below. So yeah, so the thing is as I compared the two teams like you suddenly got an Indian team that bats deep now and I think

[00:08:24] making up for some of the weaknesses, maybe at the top some of the uncertainties rather than weaknesses if I call it that. But I just want to call out that I'll tell you why I found this

[00:08:36] win special is because I think everybody contributed to a 10-11 match tournament. Like we've lived through this in the past. We've lived through Shikhar Dhawan Rohit Sharma and Radhikauli getting into the semi-final and then

[00:08:51] suddenly your punts and your 4, 5, 6 have got no idea what to do because they've just not had enough game time. Here there is nobody who ran away with the runs. Bumrah is a class apart.

[00:09:04] So I think he stood out and rightly so and we expect that from him. But even in the bowlers, like you had Ashdeep with one of the highest number of wickets, you had Kuldeep come in

[00:09:16] and kind of turned it around Akshar at crucial moments with the bat and the ball. So everyone chipped in and that to me feels like those West Indian teams that have won

[00:09:27] 2-T20 World Cup where nobody is standing out as in IPL terms, the orange cap or the purple cap but the entire team is getting 2-3 wickets or 30-40 quick runs per person. So yeah I just wanted to call that out. Yeah absolutely and I think maybe

[00:09:44] there will be an argument maybe Jadeja didn't really stand out but I mean he did his bit right when you had to do a little bit, he did his bit. But of course there was a Jaisa promise to

[00:09:57] plant the Indian flag in Barbados under Rohit Sharma's captaincy. I mean Jaisa and Ostrodhamas like what a prediction. Yeah and then did you see Rohit after the game trying to guard on the ground like it wasn't going through the ground and then the camera moved to it like

[00:10:15] two minutes later it came out and it was a mess the ground that ruined the ground. It was also awesome when like they won the trophy, Rohit literally lifted the trophy above Jaisa's head and that was one of the greatest moments of captaincy in Rohit's career so far.

[00:10:33] It was unbelievable but let's get to the game. Rohit wins the toss. He remembered his team because he didn't change it the whole time. Yeah he remembered his team he remembered what to do because I saw Cliff recently where he

[00:10:49] forgot what he wanted to do and he was literally standing there on TV saying so he remembered what he wanted to do so that was good. Yeah how big an advantage was that to be able to bat first put runs on the board against a team

[00:11:05] that has a choker's tag now we must clear this up to start right. Whoever lost today would have been called a choker so yeah fair or unfair whatever it is I mean to put those runs on the board to get the scoreboard pressure on the other side

[00:11:22] a big advantage for India. I would say an advantage because again it's such a high pressure game I think there is an advantage of putting runs on the board so there's no doubt of that but

[00:11:36] equally so like as the way we started and we'll get into that I felt it was an advantage let me I think I feel like you thought it was a much bigger advantage than I did I thought

[00:11:48] it's a good decision I think it's the right move for us but I mean I've also lived through 10 wicket defeats right when we batted first so I am a bit nervous as India bats first because

[00:12:02] I just get this feeling that sometimes the bowlers if if if the game starts getting away from you then your shoulders kind of droop and again we've lost by 10 wickets twice in the last two

[00:12:15] World Cup so that was playing on my mind. Yeah but India had won a lot batting first this particular World Cup right so I felt that was actually the advantage I think we'd only chased maybe against

[00:12:27] the US if I'm not wrong in the yeah we chased we chased we chased very little and so I think that played in our favor that we knew the game plan we knew we've done it before so

[00:12:39] and so of course Kohli 75 runs up until the semi-final 14 runs of five balls after the first over he's just taken Janssen to the cleaners man we were 15 for no loss after the first over Rohit

[00:12:51] hits two fours we're feeling pretty good at that point right like it's okay things are going in our favor we won the toss Kohli is looking magnificent pitch was looking good as well they

[00:13:01] didn't look like a slow pitch there wasn't that much movement and then Varun everything seemed to go wrong after that reverse sweep by Rohit he smokes one and who was it by that man class and

[00:13:13] who takes that catch at square leg of Keshav Maharaj yeah and Maharaj's coming into bowl that second over I think was a was a great move because he got Rohit and I think Rohit was

[00:13:28] like Rohit just didn't expect that that was not part of the like it wasn't part of the shot like he did not expect that ball to go there and then literally two balls later he gets punted

[00:13:37] like a just such a disgusting shot that yeah and why was fun hanging around like it clearly just like managed to hit the full toss to Quentin the cock somehow yeah I can see Ashut is also

[00:13:50] we're gonna give it one more go just Ashut how's I mean jumping in how's your thoughts on 34 for three when we were actually 50 I feel like I missed the best part where you guys

[00:14:00] got to actually celebrate it and talk about the exciting part I think it took me like two hours for my heart rate to kind of normalize a little bit meant 34 for three was weird right I and apologies

[00:14:11] I joined late I've traveled like I made sure but flights lighten up so that I could get get to one spot and watch it but at 15 if 15 of the first over you're thinking suddenly this may

[00:14:21] be a 200 pitch and then two of its fall immediately after a new recalibrated obviously that's what coley did too right I'm seeing one of the comments in the chat says we went from five

[00:14:30] for three to 34 for three which is slightly better I can be but but not great but yeah obviously an awful awful power play and I'm sure you guys have talked to will talk a little about

[00:14:40] coley not scoring any boundaries from the third over to the 17th over yeah but we should talk quickly about the sky shot touch one because you're a big sky fan you mentioned briefly like

[00:14:50] he never performed in the games that it matters he got runs in the semi-finals to be fair against against england a great knock of 47 that 49 or something that he got but how disappointed

[00:15:00] were you with that shot by sky I mean it was just poor right yeah just I mean just unnecessary more than anything right like and this is the hardest thing about T20 cricket where the reason

[00:15:10] england in the semi-final ended up crumbling despite not having too many runs to chase arguably was they only know how to play one style that's all they do and if they're losing

[00:15:20] we can still keep playing it and sometimes they lose by huge margins what virat did expertly yesterday is adjust his game to from 15 and one over to suddenly clamping down and saying I will stay here

[00:15:33] till the end and sky unfortunately just didn't do that now sky is the guy in the team who you don't who you don't expect to do that he's playing his role but it just felt like it was a moment

[00:15:43] where walking in at you know after two quick wickets just felt like it was a moment for him to buckle down that little bit and bat that well with coli and I mean it's just unfortunate but again

[00:15:54] I'm not I feel like I've covered up to the negatives I'm so so excited I'm so positive but yes that was disappointing yeah Varun talk to me about Akshar Patel and his knock very crucial 47 quick

[00:16:06] fire a few big shots put together that partnership took India to 104 for for three we he did this against the Pakistan team as well we pushed him up to sort of stabilize that innings

[00:16:18] were you happy with that I think Ashwin and I had spoken about maybe Jodeja could have done that maybe hard they could have done that but clearly it paid off right the second sky got out

[00:16:27] I was like Akshar is walking in and next thing you see Akshar walking in and you said a couple of hits I mean he hit four sixes he changed the momentum of the game he changed the tempo

[00:16:37] he allowed coli to be the number three coli that we know and love exactly so he he took the pressure of coli and I think he played the best innings in this the best knock in

[00:16:49] this innings his innings for me changed the game like what a guy like what a like just set himself up to cement his place in this team and it's just beautifully done he can bat for

[00:17:05] you at four or five and he can bat for you at eight is just versatility he's a team player and I just I am very impressed with that but his day ended at minus two didn't he because he made 47 and

[00:17:18] gave 40 back yeah so we'll talk about that that was no but genuinely the then that more than anything that just shows how good class it is in my opinion rather than like it's just yeah we should get

[00:17:31] to that but there's two things there one of course Akshar's been fantastic throughout the tournament bowling wise took a brilliant catch of Mitch mishmach as well mishmash mitch mosh mitch

[00:17:43] mishmash took a brilliant catch over his head for mitch mosh as well but the way he got run out for me was appalling like he just ran down the track didn't expect winter decoctor throw the ball

[00:17:57] at the non-tracker there and gets run out and I mean lots of us have gone through lots of trauma with Dhoni's still being shown with the Martin Guptill run out over the years this felt like one of those game changing moments completely out of the blue it stabilized

[00:18:11] how disappointed were you with that kind of brain fade from Akshar man Barun I'm it okay so when it happened I was watching his friends and I was like boundary great for free runs because exactly thumbs and went and I was like he's definitely not out like there's

[00:18:25] no way he can be out and I don't know if Quinton took off the glove or through it with the glove on but it was a great throw and I was like Akshar is safe and then one second later

[00:18:35] the show's replay and it's just very clearly out there's no on the line there's no going back and forth no benefit of doubt no it was just out and I was shocked I just did not it did not

[00:18:48] make sense to me that that dismiss it was a really poor piece of cricket at critical moment Ashwin talk to me about Dube under pressure coming into the final out for a first ball duck

[00:19:00] in the semi-final how good was Dube in that knock yeah and to walk in after Akshar has made 47 off 31 got up to an absolute brain fade I was at the opposite of our I knew immediately

[00:19:13] in watching real time that he had not made it back he was kind of dawdling he didn't look like he was trying to get in from suddenly he's tried to pick up speed so I knew immediately

[00:19:21] he was out I was watching with my dad who was our dad who was like it's gone for four that's great I was like no no I'm almost sure he's out and then they showed the replay but

[00:19:30] D.J we are like we being the cricketing fraternity is awfully critical of Dube awfully critical of Dube and I'm trying to remember the exact score when he walked and he was 106 for

[00:19:40] four and you know hit three boundaries on a six made 27 runs I think it you know in a situation where 106 for four can become a hundred and twenty five hundred thirty all out

[00:19:54] A there were some questions about Dube walking in ahead of hard they probably left it right fine you get all that but but but Dube was good man you give it to him you give it to him we give

[00:20:04] we give up there's a lot a lot of hate when a lot of we would not hate but negativity when they have tough days it was good that's a good knock that's a decent knock when you need it

[00:20:13] I mean you want arguably you want Dube and their partnership to have left a little bit more room for how you think and that was the only frustration but and no complaints it's a good good good important runs under pressure yeah excellent and you talked a little

[00:20:26] bit about this before Ashwin Virat got his gears went up his then his gears then went down he was 50 or 48 right before he unleashed if it got out 50 or 48 would we be having a very

[00:20:44] different conversation here Varun I do think that acceleration helped a lot in just in basically making it I would say acceptable because it was still under 130 strike rate so it just it was it just made it acceptable but given again the reality is given where we were at

[00:21:05] 30 for 3 I think it was a fantastic knock basically anyway it's done like I think there would have been criticism I think we would have all been here thinking who's and ours and

[00:21:16] ifs and buts and you know why did he do that and it was out of form and I would have been saying he should have batted a three but they stuck with it he knew how to accelerate

[00:21:26] Dravid and and Rohit had been doing what kind of Imran Khan did with Wasim before the final raid which is we just want to I just want him to bowl fast both of them are talking to the

[00:21:36] media in their own ways and saying I don't want to jinx it but a big one is coming I don't want to say anything but a big one is coming so they did it in their own way he stood up

[00:21:45] he delivered as he usually does and yeah all well that ends well yeah I mean he ends up winning the man of the match but there was not a lot left for Hartik not a lot left for Jadeja 176 for 7

[00:22:03] Ashwin winning total highest total in the World Cup final but was it a winning total in your mind at the half of the match? The message I sent at that point was 10 runs short and I don't

[00:22:14] I it happened in Florida right at 15 like I said at 15 in the first over 200 looks doable suddenly three wickets fall Kohli buckles down and you don't know you it did not look like a very difficult

[00:22:25] wicket during our first winnings but you believe when Kohli is batting at a run of wall it was probably harder he was probably not coming onto the bat in a way that we can't always tell on TV

[00:22:35] and then he started accelerating late and Dubai started hitting you're like maybe the pitch isn't that bad and of course we later established now maybe it flattened out over the course of the game etc but but to answer your question 10 runs short I think was the reality

[00:22:48] now that 10 runs there's World Cup final pressure that probably adds 10 15 20 runs to any chasing sides total which is more the psychological effect but on paper 176 was a little short and you have to give credit to the South Africans they fielded like absolute demons they caught everything

[00:23:04] they had runouts they bowled well Nokia Maharaj I think with the standouts let's just talk about the first wicket Risa Hendricks just breathe boomeravaging eighth this T20 World Cup at that point steaming in from the Malcolm Marshall and now we have we haven't had the pleasure of watching

[00:23:28] Malcolm Marshall bowl because he was before our time but supposed to be one of the greatest like anytime you talk about like a all-time great 11 Malcolm Marshall name oldest comes in

[00:23:37] but on you four years ago when boomer had played eight test matches had picked boomer as an all-time great for India vision what do I mean I'm getting good thinking of it right now that's what I'm

[00:23:59] saying like just just all for our listeners just listen to me and in four years something I'm saying you'll end up agreeing with me but I mean he's just been so fantastic that you don't know

[00:24:09] like you always you're always feeling like can I just save him for the last overs can I like not use him too early but the game plan was set he delivered he's actually delivered every

[00:24:21] time the ball has been thrown to him I just I said this a few times I just don't think he's he's playing on the same planet as everyone else I think he's the absolute cheat code right

[00:24:32] he's the cheat code Ravichandr Nashvan who I mean he's pretty good at cricket calls just beat boomer the cheat code at cricket and it's like you know he needs to play like EA cricket

[00:24:41] and you would like set the ball to swing away and see him in he's literally doing that in real life and like how do you play that your visa Hendricks haven't got runs this tournament

[00:24:50] he said one four bang boomer takes you out yeah Malcolm comes in hits one four goes after a wide one Ashwin Rishabh Panth hasn't had the best last couple of games behind the stumps in fact

[00:25:03] the ball before he said Hendricks got bold he let a buy off Quintendy cock or leg buy which could be a tactical leg buy I guess where there's recent record out the next one but he takes

[00:25:13] the catches that counted right he takes the one off our step wide one how disappointed were they South African captain have been to leave South Africa 12 for two chasing in a

[00:25:24] World Cup final at that point yeah again and part of the Emsen flows of this game at that point you're thinking okay this is a tough weekend I know it was a bad shot to be honest our steep

[00:25:33] pole kind of wide outside the off stump he swung at a cotton make I don't know sort of at most I'm being harsh to Rishabh but it was a pretty routine catch if he's not taking that catch at

[00:25:42] this level in a World Cup final then there's a different discussion behind but yeah incredibly now I think Varun said before the tournament part of why you don't write out the South

[00:25:52] Africa right off the South African side is their middle order and he was recruiting Markham at that point but Markham Markham classon middler and Stubbs are potentially the best out of S3 456 and the one so yes Markham would have been disappointed leaving them in 12 for two but

[00:26:08] obviously as we know it ended up playing out he knew he had he knew he had the firepower to come and so not ideal as a skipper you want to be making runs in the final his

[00:26:18] counterpart didn't on the other side and neither did he and it's kind of disappointing for both of them yeah and at 12 for two India fans are feeling pretty good we're pumped we're going okay we can do this

[00:26:27] boomeraz bowl two over rushes bowl two overs and then the trump card for India should have been the spinners right Akshar comes in fifth over Varun and Kristen Stubbs deli blood DC blood as

[00:26:38] usual who Kuldip had refused to bowl to by the way in the in the DC nets probably preparing for this tournament Stubbs just like took us apart like I mean they took Akshar apart they were going

[00:26:52] at over 10 runs and over both Kuldip and Akshar and that middle over that India so dominated with that strangle hold it felt like South Africa had worked out a way to moving around their crease

[00:27:04] they'd worked out a way on how to neutralize India spinners which we hadn't really come across in the latter stages of the tournament played in the Caribbean Varun so and Varun if it helps you

[00:27:16] spin was nine overs one for one of six yeah I was just looking at the individual economy rates of 12 11.2 and 12.2 which basically averaging closer to 12 and they just found a way man I don't know if the pitch changed I don't think

[00:27:35] I don't think the South African spinners bowl that well I think I can't I can't give I think accreditation Maharaj for putting his hand up and bowling the second over but I can't say that it

[00:27:45] was the spin that got him the wickets it was just a smart bowling smart field setting and and silly batting so when it came to the second innings you thought that yes DJ like you actually

[00:27:57] said this was it because we are going to kill them in the middle overs and they're going to be eight down at the end of 15 and then boomerang Arsidh Bhakor finish it off but a Dikok I

[00:28:08] think has found form just in the last three games so just in time so that was what being me second I think Tristan Stubbs is batting at the right position all through the IPL and even earlier in

[00:28:20] this tournament I feel like he's got a decent technique and he is a great number four and I think they started batting in there so I got a little worried then and and then basically

[00:28:36] Manu and Klasen came out as I was saying and I shouldn't join it just looked too easy there were some offside sixes that he was hitting I mean he had five sixes and I got really worried then

[00:28:51] now I should talk me about talk to me about the Stubbs dismissal everybody seems surprised by that like it was a really crazy way to get out he got out to Akshar eventually but

[00:29:01] was it was it surprising to you as well I mean I don't think so I think when he got out he was just playing the role knowing that they had Miller's to come and said he was just playing

[00:29:11] the role to go after it and I think they were saying if we take which again South Africa did it took the game to a point I don't remember the exact win probabilities but they took the

[00:29:20] game to a point where they should have won it it went from being 12 for two it's kind of India's game to lose to whatever 30 of 30 ish it's South Africa's game and so I think their

[00:29:32] game plan was once you have class and strike them all nicely Tristan looked good got promoted to four he hasn't always banned it for this tournament I was just he had a game plan he had to go after

[00:29:42] it and yeah he swung and he got bold but it was a good I think that there was merit to the game plan I don't we don't sit here saying if Stubbs had stayed long maybe they wouldn't

[00:29:51] yeah so so let's go into a quick break because I want to come back to the class and bit of this game and I just want to come back to the reactions and what happened afterwards so

[00:29:59] don't go anywhere this is the edges and slages cricket podcast and you're listening to us talk about India's win India now T20 world champions hit that like hit that subscribe and we'll be back straight after this break welcome back from that break and you're still

[00:30:21] listening to the edges and slages cricket podcast Henry classen one of the world's best T20 batters has just walked in he's just smoked hard the pandia over cover for six which is like a tennis shot

[00:30:34] it's just looking too easy for him at that point right so classen and deacock batting together deacock smokes a six of arsdeep the uh rohe brings arsdeep back goes for six and the next

[00:30:46] ball kind of another brain fade warrant from deacock i've never really been worried about deacock finishing a game for each side somehow you know he's going to do something a little bit on and that's

[00:30:56] why the order kind of made sense so yes I think a brain fade but you're absolutely right DJ his his role is not to finish the game uh that's why they they they've got him too bad the way he

[00:31:07] does they've got stubs up there and then you've got the two superstars right Miller and classen and you know why and you know why like we i'm sitting there baron do you remember 2018 joe

[00:31:16] bug the two guys yes that we watched when we became a fan of classen right because the like the hitting I had not seen that kind of hitting so it it it basically it was classen

[00:31:30] and Miller it had to be those two guys it always had to be so after deacock got out basically that was that was when you come back to that point of everyone is saying one more weekend

[00:31:40] because then you're in yansen and yansen and maharaj I mean they're not like just to draw parallel they're not hard they can act or how they can get right it's not the same comparison so I do

[00:31:53] feel that they were short and there was this one akshar over like I can't remember how many went for but 24 but we'll come to it because to my mind I would have thought wrist spin would be the

[00:32:04] way to go like kuldeep would have been the trump card against them but kuldeep kept going for runs they kept smashing him and then the 15th over you bring akshar in and it was 54 to get

[00:32:18] of 36 balls yeah ashwin did your heart sink when you watched akshar patel go for 24 runs I went back to the Dhoni over where 46 is in a row I mean jokes aside this sounds like a negative but

[00:32:33] 54 from 36 we are traveling as a family right now we had delayed dinner plans we were like all right we have to stay watch this through at 32 from 30 is what it became I said let's get ready

[00:32:45] like this is going to be done in five months I was like you do not expect at 32 from 30 balls no it was 30 of 30 it was 30 30 yeah right with uh four five six wickets in that six wickets

[00:32:57] in hand at that point you do not expect to win and like the win is in the win probably isn't all that but 30 of 30 I was the one who told my family like let's start getting ready it's time to

[00:33:09] go out we might as well we're not going to knock what's the end of the game but I really thought it could be done in two hours Varun it was like one o'clock at night for you right like 3 probability

[00:33:18] of winning did you turn the tv off I haven't turned the tv off since 22nd march bro like once we finish this podcast I'm gonna sleep and I'm gonna see I'm gonna wake up in

[00:33:29] September I think like that's how tired I am but I did not switch off the tv you're glad then that you know I have to be I want to know so basically this is where I feel that I have to

[00:33:42] give credit to Rohit Sharma because I'm gonna say a quarter version but I think if Kohli was captaining like you potentially would have had a Seraj coming in the next over and he would have

[00:33:56] been like yeah like just I can't say on the on screen right now but he would have basically just said run through them and and this kind of stuff and then Seraj would have come and steaming

[00:34:10] and what I hate for like 16 runs in that over so I just feel that that I do want to give credit to Rohit Sharma because 30 of 30 it was done honestly I was telling my friends who was

[00:34:23] watching when said they should not even be lifting the bat to their waist level okay when 30 for 30 you should literally be playing as we are known one tip one hand he should be blocking it

[00:34:39] and running that's all you need to do you should not even be raising the bat to your waist car level and it was 27 of 28 at one point so there were fewer runs to get than balls

[00:34:53] remaining at one point and boomer comes in he had to come in over earlier Rohit had no choice he absolutely had to bring him in boomer stems that flow after the 24 run over he goes for four

[00:35:08] runs because they've decided boomer has got 12 balls left we cannot we cannot lose a wicket to him and we also and similarly Rohit said I cannot lose this game with boomer having another three balls left absolutely absolutely then comes a moment of genius of course we've talked about

[00:35:28] Gulbadan now going down with his hamstring and all of that stuff right Rishabh Panth who's come back from a massive injury a huge accident car accident suddenly has a problem with his knee

[00:35:41] it's quite possible he's had knee construction surgery all of that it takes three or four minutes out of the game it breaks the rhythm of the South African batters and it gives India that

[00:35:54] breathing space to just come down Rohit has a chat with the boys gives the ball to Harthick Harthick balls a wide off-cutter clips it to Rishabh class and hits it to Rishabh I should

[00:36:06] how amuse way to watch Rishabh Panth hobble after that catch tell me it was fabulous because you sit there and the scorecard if you look at a scorecard that wicket will always be next to Harthick Panthia's name but that wicket belongs to as yes Harthick gets kind of

[00:36:20] but just great for a four run over after 24 and Rishabh and you could argue with the game in this set actually I don't actually know if he needed any strapping or needed a change of his strapping all that but it's moments like that it happens all the time

[00:36:35] the commentator's cliches you know the drink after drinks break or after a strategic timeout in the IPL etc is when a wicket falls he created that it takes that game aware on field awareness to

[00:36:47] just they're dominating they've made 24 now these we've got a four run over now they're thinking about 26 of 24 saying okay 26 of 24 boomer has got six left I have to go after the two Harthick and one

[00:36:59] Rishabh if that match is over yeah they're thinking about that and Harthick comes in and Panthia's like just give it a couple minutes let them sit there let them class him and Miller at that point be thinking about every time South Africa has gotten close before

[00:37:13] and joked let them be thinking about we are the only two this is reality right this is why the family the game is so hard Miller in class had three extra minutes to think

[00:37:22] we may be looking at history first guys to ever 30 years 32 years I mean they just stood in that and then they got a white one and he's going out it didn't go out so it's amazing just do you

[00:37:35] think Panthia saw Jonathan Trot being like yeah standing on the sideline Panthia done this celebration would have been the best so it goes to 26 of 23 the rest of the over is okay it goes to basically

[00:37:57] Arshti bulls a fantastic four run over four runs sorry Arshti bulls a 90th over boomer comes back Miller at this point is the man that's got to do the job for them right like he has to do it Janssen

[00:38:10] scum in Miller gives Janssen the strike and to me that was the biggest mistake of that whole game because I'm like Janssen is not going to be able to keep out a man it's an irresistible

[00:38:25] force met by an object that has a big hole in it literally and physics metaphor dude and that ball from boomer it had to be full it had to be straight Janssen is not even trying to score a run of it

[00:38:40] it's gone through him it's both through his defenses and it's bold him and that and then Kesha Maharaj keeps out two balls but he takes a single of the last one Miller at that point

[00:38:50] has to say I'm the guy I'm gonna do it and he's off strike again but that's a mentality of not believing you can do it kick see right Miller's like I'd rather take the one run than think I

[00:39:03] can finish it off yeah again it feels like we're watching a t20 game but it feels like a test match that's played out over days like you're living every moment right okay Arshti four run

[00:39:14] over fantastic Miller can't get it away Miller can't get it away Kesha Maharaj can't get it away Arshti fielding brilliantly at one point I think he went up like eight feet in the air to stop

[00:39:25] one that was going over that that leaves Varun long story short everyone's watched the game I'm sure if you're listening to this podcast you watch the game 16 of six this is the first redemption arc I

[00:39:36] want to come to after all the jacked in the IPL all the booing the Gujarat fans the Mumbai fans booing him at the one KD for replacing Rohit Sharma as captain of the Mumbai Indians

[00:39:48] which is utterly fair if you're captain of a franchise you move as the captain of another franchise it was somehow quite satisfying to see Rohit Sharma say hard dick

[00:40:00] win me the world cup yeah it was it was look it we were doing the math and it just it was always going to be hard to believe that last over so it as he kind of stood at the top of the mark

[00:40:12] you could see the nerves and the the nervousness and you know as we talk about it the over you will see that in the first ball as well there was just way too many nerves for for hard dick at this

[00:40:23] point and you look at his journey since December or Jan since it was announced about Mumbai Indians man the hate he got has not been warranted at all at all so you all of us are hoping against hope

[00:40:41] that not only does India win but that hard dick is the hero because he's performed very well throughout the world cup but he's already got class in he's already got class in Mumbai he's

[00:40:51] opened the door he's opened the door and you you you do you you you give 70 run that over you're finished man you're like you're you're not getting any sympathy yet and

[00:41:03] and let's talk about that first ball it it was a low wide full toss and I want to describe how I saw it because I'm not sure if every channel showed in the exact same way but

[00:41:14] low full toss that got smacked in the air that looked like it was going for a six from the second I left the bad and then suddenly in my camera angle you had sky coming in to take it

[00:41:32] and then the camera kind of doesn't show anything goes behind the side screen you get disappears behind the side screen then he comes out and I was like this is like like some

[00:41:42] sanju Ratan level Joji's like shit okay when it's like change the girl literally you couldn't see sky you thought he's like collided against the wall outside the boundary and just like

[00:41:57] he comes out from that side it was like it was something else what a fucking time to pull out a catch like that they practice this over and over again but to do it this is I mean of

[00:42:07] course the couple Dave catches immortal right running backwards taking we've regressed in 1983 this catch would be talked to in the same breath because he has caught it it's an impossible catch to take because he's running full tilt as you said Varun he's running full

[00:42:22] tilt towards the ball he's taken the catch he's had the presence of mind to realize his body is going to go over the boundary he's just tossed it up perfectly enough inside the

[00:42:33] boundary he's gone out he's come back in it is a magnificent feat of athleticism and its fitness its fielding Ashwin did you see Dilip the fielding coach there's a there's like a view of him

[00:42:48] when the catch is taken and I mean all the stuff about the fielding medal Charlie this makes all those hard yards worth it this is what Kohli was talking about

[00:42:59] to the practice to take that catch and I mean what a time to do it what a man should do it you should just give sky the fielding medal from here on in perpetuity like there's no

[00:43:07] there's no topping that and it's a lot of guys who started being able to take those catches where instead of falling over you do but that was the difference that was it I mean jokes aside and no discrediting tendon for Arjun Pandya it was a horrendous delivery dude

[00:43:21] you cannot bowl a full toss outside off Stubborn Miller and on the first ball of the last one you just can't and I thought best case scenario that situation sky manages to palm it back in and save

[00:43:33] the six and then you're taught they probably get two you're talking about 15 needed of five but still have David Miller one of the world's greatest finishers going making it 16 of six would become 14 of five we then ended up 16 of five with two tailors it was the

[00:43:48] that was the game that was the game right 16 of six would have become 10 or five right I'm sorry math is hard no no I'm saying I would think he would have bombed it back oh if he'd got it back

[00:43:57] in okay okay but not but to actually be but I don't think Miller got all of it to be honest like it didn't seem like he got all of it because when Miller said it goes there was a lot on

[00:44:06] the roof yesterday actually it just I mean this I really living it right now but it was it was half an inch from the room that's what this game came down to because if he had grabbed it and there

[00:44:18] was any movement on the camera off the road then to your 10 of five are the rolling Miller on strike it's back I don't know I don't have the wind with math but the probably probably swung

[00:44:30] drastically back it was that was it this was the game for me yeah I mean an unbelievable catch at that point and I'm I think as you I'm reliving it and there was a point in which

[00:44:39] when it went up because we all saw it go into the sky we didn't see anything else happen and then there was sky underneath it there was sky above and sky below and the whole of India was at one

[00:44:51] point I think diving towards that TV trying to catch that for but it was like that shrieks it looked like a six and suddenly you would you shut this like at the 30 yeah because it's that same perspective ball goes up and in the crowd you probably knew

[00:45:10] if you can see the depth TV you have no idea I'm sure the camera guy that last over is like taking the camera even further up right it's like let's add to the drama and Ian smith on coms I mean

[00:45:23] very unbelievable it literally was the best imagine anyway Miller's gone drama third umpire blah blah blah he hangs around robada comes in robada can hit a long ball as well so let's not

[00:45:35] get that wrong edges one goes for four who are heart the balls are wide then you come down to nine of three right and he just needs to he just needs to get it not go for a boundary at one

[00:45:51] point nine nine of two we just need to go not go for a boundary at one point he bolder wide before that and then there's a catch and India have won the world cup hard to pundit running into bowl

[00:46:01] the last ball with tears in his eyes Rohit Sharma has fallen to the ground Virat Kohli is losing it all of India is broken yes it wasn't dramatic it wasn't last ball like swishan but they've only

[00:46:13] scored 22 of the last 30 balls and that's because India have a genius in just free boomer to me he was the man of the match he is he's got that aura I mean of course Kohli wanted to sometimes

[00:46:25] you get the guy who scored the maximum number of runs the most times IPL or T20 teams give the guys scored maximum number runs the trophy India won the world cup the long wait has ended Ashwin

[00:46:37] I know you've got a drop in a couple of minutes Kohli and Rohit bow out together bit of sweet right so one of the tweets that I saw that brought to life was weird I've seen a million of them

[00:46:49] but it was that it what it took ultimately for India to win this world cup was to sacrifice two goats and that is a great lie but so many love but they're two they're two of the greatest that

[00:47:03] this country has ever seen they're still playing we're still gonna play lots of test cricket baron you're gonna be able to watch them in parthen stuff like they're gonna be unbelievable for us for

[00:47:13] test cricket for the future probably you know the eyes for a while I think we all came into this tournament sort of knowing they would bow out it would have been much more upsetting to bow out

[00:47:22] in a loss obviously and maybe they would have tried to stretch it on it a little longer if there was a loss I mean it's just after 11 11 if you count the champions trophy 13 years of heartbreak

[00:47:34] repeatedly it's this is it I mean it rings of such in winning the 2011 on his way out of his ODI it just this is it we're at the T20 is basically now the biggest most popular format of the

[00:47:48] variety Roy had not left to the trophy Roy had I guess right then but right now to skip and it I mean there's just there's no word I mean the Sid Monga articles on cricket for putting

[00:47:59] poetry to it etc I don't we don't have that kind of way with words I don't I don't have the grammar test to describe it but it just felt like poetry it felt like perfection it felt like

[00:48:10] and it didn't happen easy it wasn't a 10-week victory like the semi-final or not but a huge victory that the semi-final it was hard it was heartbreak almost there and then recovery I think

[00:48:20] what epitomized it for me was when when the right winning moment happened as the captain Roy had didn't run through his coach run to his teammates run into the picture pool he just kind

[00:48:31] of fell to the floor and that's the like emotional burden you've been carrying just kind of suddenly drop and you're you just feel like and he just dropped to release all that passion that

[00:48:43] that's what it was and that's the second redemption I want to come to Baron of course Rohit captain India in that unbeaten run to the World Cup ODI World Cup final in November last year

[00:48:54] to get yourself back up after all that's gone on during the IPL to lead a team to put the team before yourself to get others convinced that you have to back the team not coley is one

[00:49:06] two man of the tournament city 20s is one one at the ODI World Cup but he hasn't lifted the trophy since to convince others to say you do what I tell you to do and let others do their job

[00:49:23] that takes quite something to sacrifice yourself and that's that's teams who win the World Cup that's that's basically what they do everyone has their role everyone's following a vision and leader and that leader has to set the tone for everything so whether it's playing attacking

[00:49:40] cricket by himself or giving everyone a very specific role or niche that they need to play it's just it's it's great like I I think Roger Mendes has a lot of credit as captain

[00:49:53] absolutely and I'm sure we'll talk more about that as it comes I think the emotions are still pretty pretty row I think heart heart rates are still coming down slowly the other redemption are Warren this is displayed in the western days in the USA uh Raul David

[00:50:08] is stepping down as Indian coach he was the captain of the Indian team that got knocked out in the first round in the qualifying round in 2007 the year India won the T20 World Cup

[00:50:19] life's gone full circle again yeah it's it's been really full circle for him here's a player who when the T20 format was introduced like he was the anti of a T20 player and to not

[00:50:31] only win it in that format in which he's not known for but to do it in the western days it really was full circle I could not be happier for our driver I've seen too many Shah Rukh Chakde

[00:50:45] memes and posts like it's exactly the same man this is a guy who who deserved a trophy not all great sports people get a trophy but I'm just so happy and you know at the end when we saw

[00:51:00] Koli kind of going up with the trophy to Rohit Sharma and I feel like he said come on go crazy right and Koli and not Rohit Sharma Koli and Rahul and Rahul and Koli have played together

[00:51:12] in the same team right I feel like he just said go crazy and I think Rahul David just went crazy he just lifted that cup and what you saw there was probably about 16 seconds of raw emotion

[00:51:24] before he kind of come down and collected himself and yeah it was fantastic to see I mean what what a contribution he's had I mean to be one game in the last two World Cups yeah what a contribution

[00:51:43] that is I mean that that is unbelievable leading the team into the World Test Championship final as well I mean this could have been the Holy Trinity within like the span of 15 months

[00:51:51] Varun let's not get this wrong World Test Championship final ODI final and T20 final in like what is it 10 12 14 months last year with the World Test Championship final right like this could have been

[00:52:04] a legacy defining year for the Indian cricket team it may have to wait till 20 27 as I think Rohit then and Virat have both announced an announcement to their retirement to stay fit for the ODI white ball world cup having won this

[00:52:18] Jadeja I believe is also announced his T20 yeah just a couple of hours back Dikok is finishing off as well yeah Warner has as well Warner has finished off as well so there's been a lot of change in the world order happens man

[00:52:36] you know you get these like 19 guys 15 years ago they all come in together out of 15 of them 7 8 really make it and then just this is how it works man like in 2014 sangha karan jai what may want the 2014 T20 World Cup

[00:52:54] and they brought out of the game together this is just how it goes golly said it first Rohit let him have his you know half an hour announced in the press conference later the

[00:53:05] same thing 24 hours later Jadu has damaged so it's I genuinely think that the time is right I don't think anyone will feel sad that they're leaving I think you you know that it was coming you are happy that they've got what they wanted and they dissolved

[00:53:21] and now they are leaving on a high and the future is so great that you know a lot of us had been already questioning why they've not left so it's in safe hands and it's just

[00:53:35] it just to meet us right time right place this is the time to announce it so it was great see I could talk to you for the next four hours relive this final ball by ball right I could

[00:53:43] and what's going to come next but the one thing that you mentioned was Mahila and sangha and I think Rohit and Virat have now lifted themselves to that level of bromance yeah where it's beyond

[00:53:54] I'm captain your captain yeah I'm I'm this I'm your that it's what is best for the team they've their fans will clash you've got the Rohitians versus the Viratians or whatever

[00:54:07] that is that's just twitter nonsense they too have come together to win the cup for India and I think they will try to do that in 2027 again we should be privileged to be living in this era of Roko

[00:54:21] and Bumra I think yeah Bumra Koko Roko because at the moment it's not that's a good hashtag yeah at the moment it's absolutely impossible but I mean it feels so good to be able to

[00:54:34] celebrate this after and it and now the 30 from 30 I think really the winning from there of course the South Africans will be devastated by that but their time will come as somebody said but I think

[00:54:45] it also now really it's made those expectations completely unrealistic because that's not a game you win yeah 97% time of the time right especially when it's been so easy in the last three

[00:54:58] overs before that to hit 15 20 runs per over yeah so just fantastic yeah they got 38 runs of the last two overs before that yeah before it all went uh six of the last two boom rovers so that's unbelievable

[00:55:13] anyway it's just fantastic man but yeah Varun thank you so much for staying up late joining me for this we will take a break next week because we do need to catch our breath it's been

[00:55:21] non-stop since the start of the IPL I think take a moment to savour the moment enjoy the moment this for all the disappointments we have these are the times we get to enjoy being Indian cricket

[00:55:35] fans we're not the world's most pleasant fans sometimes it's hard it's hard to be an Indian cricket fan I at one point was thinking how would I go into work on Monday after having lost

[00:55:45] this game how do you explain another loss luckily we don't have to really hold your heads up high and the next time the Indian cricket team don't do well remember the 30th of June 2024 and how that

[00:55:58] this team has made you feel today right on that note this has been the edges and slages cricket podcast signing off we will be back in two weeks time until then take care and we'll see you so