We didn’t panic – Rohit Sharma reveals how team remained calm to pull off victory from jaws of defeat in T20 World Cup final against South Africa

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma recalled how his players remained calm to pull off victory from the jaws of defeat in the T20 World Cup final against South Africa. The Proteas were in a shoo-in position as they needed a run-a-ball 30 with six wickets in hand.

Heinrich Klaasen smashed Axar Patel for 24 runs in the 15th over. However, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh were right on the money in the last five overs. 

While Bumrah accounted for Marco Jansen and conceded only six runs in the two overs he bowled, Pandya got the big wickets of Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller and defended 15 runs in the final over. Furthermore, Arshdeep Singh bowled a tight over, conceding only four runs.

“Yes, I was completely blank. I don’t look too far ahead. It’s very important for me to stay in the moment and focus on the job at hand. It was very important for all of us to stay calm and try to execute our plans,” Rohit said at an event in Dallas.

“When we were under immense pressure when South Africa needed 30 runs off 30 balls, the five overs that we bowled showed how calm we were. We just focussed on our job, not thinking much about anything else. We didn’t panic; that was very good from our side,” Rohit added.

India was able to pull up their socks and delivered as a unit. Moreover, Virat Kohli scored a match-winning knock of 76 runs off 59 balls to bounce back to form at the right time. Furthermore, Axar Patel scored a crucial knock of 47 runs off 31 balls to help India post 176 runs on the board after India lost three early wickets of Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, and Suryakumar Yadav.