As the Indian cricket team won the T20 World Cup 2024, beating South Africa in the final, the Player of the Match award went to Virat Kohli. His 59-ball 76 took India to a defendable total of 176, chasing which, the Proteas fell short of 7 runs. Despite Kohli’s knock proving to be instrumental in India’s victory in the final, there are some who feel he shouldn’t have been given the Player of the Match award. In fact, former India opener Wasim Jaffer feels Kohli wasn’t even the team’s most important batter in the final.

For Jaffer, who was an opening batter for India himself, Axar Patel takes the No. 1 spot in the list of batters whose contributions won the team the match in the final against South Africa.

“Virat Kohli hadn’t scored many runs in the tournament, but he chose the right moment to come good. Cometh the hour, cometh the man as we say, his knock of 76 made a lot of difference and kept one end intact,” Jaffer said on his YouTube channel.

“The most important part I thought was played by Axar Patel. The cameo that he played ensured that the run rate from India never dropped below eight runs per over. He took the attack to the South African bowlers and didn’t let them settle, forming a crucial partnership with Kohli,” he added.

Jaffer concluded the video by paying tributes to India’s two icons – Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma – admitting that their exit will create a big gap in the team.

“Two giants of the game (Rohit and Kohli) have retired from T20Is and this will certainly form a big gap. However, they rightly chose to go out on a high after winning the trophy and we should bow down to the true greats of the game. We will continue to see them in IPL, ODIs and Tests,” Jaffer asserted.

Former Indian cricket team batter Wasim Jaffer believes that both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will retire from T20Is after the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024. Both star batters have struggled to score runs in the tournament till now with Rohit scoring 99 runs in 5 matches and Virat managing just 66 runs in the competition. Ahead of India’s Super 8 match against Australia, Jaffer said that he believes that this can be the last T20I competition for both Rohit and Virat but insisted that they will continue to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, he added that the final call will lie with them and the selectors.

“I think they both (Virat and Rohit) will retire from T20Is after the T20 World Cup. It is their call eventually and also the call of the selectors. While they will continue to play in the IPL, I believe we are seeing them for the last time in T20Is at the T20 World Cup,” Jaffer said on his YouTube channel.

However, Jaffer also backed Kohli to score hundred international centuries in his playing career. Currently, he has 29 Test centuries, 50 ODI centuries and one century in the T20 Internationals.

“Yes, I think Virat Kohli will score hundred international hundreds. He has a lot of time left and the way his fitness is and the way he scores his runs with consistency, I hundred percent expect him to cross hundred hundreds,” Jaffer added.

Meanwhile, Riyan Parag, Abhishek Sharma and Nitish Reddy were rewarded for their exploits in the last IPL with maiden India call-ups for the upcoming white-ball tour of Zimbabwe under the captaincy of Shubman Gill.

Senior players competing in the ongoing T20 World Cup in the Americas, including captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah have been rested ahead of a gruelling season.

The Zimbabwe tour comprises five T20 Internationals, beginning July 6.

(With PTI inputs)

The T20 World Cup 2024 witnessed a massive upset as the Pakistan cricket team crashed out of the competition after the encounter between United States and Ireland was abandoned due to rain. The Babar Azam-led side slumped to a shocking loss against United States before they were beaten by traditional rivals India in a thriller. While Pakistan did end up defeating Canada in their third group stage match, it was not enough as the abandoned match resulted in their elimination. Former India cricketer Wasim Jaffer took to social media to take a dig at Babar Azam and Co after their exit.

“Contrary to popular belief, Pakistan didn’t get knocked out because USA v IRE got rained off. They got knocked out because Pakistan lost to USA,” he posted on X (formerly Twitter). 

Contrary to popular belief, Pakistan didn’t get knocked out because USA v IRE got rained off. They got knocked out because Pakistan lost to USA #USAvIRE #T20WorldCup

— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) June 14, 2024

Due to the two consecutive defeats, Pakistan needed to win both of their remaining matches while United States had to lose both of their matches for Babar Azam and Co to qualify. Even in that scenario, the qualification would have been decided by Net Run Rate (NRR).

However, with the points getting split between United States and Ireland due to their match getting abandoned due to rain, Pakistan crashed out of the tournament with one match remaining.

PCB is now gearing up for a major overhaul and review of the team’s performance and is expected to make major decisions in the coming days.

PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi has said that major surgery is required in the team, hinting at an expected cancellation of players’ central contracts, including the captain Babar Azam and other senior players.

(With IANS inputs)