Moments after K.L. Rahul had smashed the winning runs — a six off Glenn Maxwell over long-on — Virat Kohli was ecstatic. He had been grinning from ear to ear from the moment Hardik Pandya walloped two successive sixes off Adam Zampa in the 47th over.
Having let out a roar in the staircase leading up to the dressing room at the Dubai International Stadium, Kohli turned to his trademark clenched fist celebration in the company of his teammates.
As Rohit Sharma made an appearance, Kohli pulled the India captain in a tight embrace, reviving memories of the T20 World Cup triumph in Bridgetown in June last year.
Tuesday’s four-wicket victory over Australia with 11 balls remaining has put India in the final of a second successive ICC tournament. The humbling of Travis Head, India’s tormentor-in-chief, was the icing on the cake. India now awaits the winners of New Zealand and South Africa for Sunday’s title clash.
The overflow of emotions was not to be missed. This was not just about achieving success in a semi-final. This was about an achievement against a team that had made winning ICC tournaments its domain.
Having endured the ignominy of losing a World Test Championship final at The Oval, a World Cup final at home and the recent humiliation in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Down Under, there was much to play for against Australia in a knockout encounter on Tuesday.
Rohit admitted he was uncertain about his plans at the toss and seemed happy not to have been forced to make the decision. The 265-run target was tricky on a slow wicket but the Indians followed their template to perfection.
The India captain once again launched an ultra-offensive ploy at the outset to unsettle an Australian attack without Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc and Josh Hazlewood. Once Rohit departed, Kohli and Shreyas Iyer gave the innings the much-needed direction, showing composure and a sensible approach during their 91-run stand.
Steve Smith had packed his XI with as many as six spin bowling options but Kohli showed his class by adjusting to the conditions. The master of the chase, Kohli batted with the right intent and timing during his 84 off 98 balls. Only five boundaries in his innings bore testament to his temperament and application.
“I think my timing. The composure at the crease, I wasn’t feeling desperate. I was pretty happy knocking ones around. When as a batsman you start taking pride in hitting those singles into the gaps, that’s when you know you’re playing good cricket,” Kohli said about his innings.
His dismissal made the chase look slightly delicate towards the end with 27 needed off the last four overs. While Rahul was a picture of assurance during his 42 off 24 balls, Pandya displayed guts and willpower in putting it beyond the Aussies.
“As I said, this game is all about pressure, especially big games like semis and finals. If you go deep into the innings and you have enough wickets in hand, the opposition usually gives in and then the game becomes easier. It’s very important to control your impulses while the game is going on,” Kohli remarked.
Everything fell to a plan for India. They also conquered their nemesis, Head, at the right time. Head hadn’t faced Varun Chakravarthy during IPL 2024 and their first encounter played out in the mystery spinner’s favour with the left-hander being dismissed first ball. Rohit had held Varun back for a while but as Head threatened to run riot, he was summoned.
It spun just enough to disturb Head’s free swing of the bat and the way the Indians celebrated almost meant they had sealed Australia’s fate. Varun had come round the wicket and hit the lower end of the bat as Head charged down the ground. Head’s cameo threatened to spoil India’s plans as he hammered five boundaries and two sixes in the blink of an eye.
The fresh and bone-dry wicket was expected to favour India’s four-pronged spin attack but none except Varun completed their quota of overs. Smith (73 off 96)and Alex Carey (61 off 57) milked the spinners by picking the gaps.
But Mohammed Shami’s class and talent came through on the big occasion. His exploits in the 2023 World Cup had gone a long way in their unbeaten run to the final and on Tuesday he showed that neither the long layoff nor the Dubai conditions had been able to impact his skills.
He got enough seam movement with the new white ball and troubled the batters with his change of pace and toe-crushing yorkers in the death overs. The three wickets provided enough evidence of his abilities and discipline right through.
His accuracy impacted Australia’s run-rate in the last 10 overs as 51 came at the cost of 4 wickets. It turned out to be a game changing effort.