‘Want to see Rohit holding the cup…’: Skipper’s childhood coach ahead of T20 WC final

MUMBAI: Dinesh Lad, the childhood coach of Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, wished the Men in Blue good luck for their ICC T20 World Cup clash against South Africa at Barbados, saying that he would like to see his ward lift the trophy in his hands.

The two undefeated sides in this edition, India will take on South Africa in the T20 WC title clash at Barbados on Saturday. While Proteas recorded an authoritative nine-wicket defeat to end Afghanistan’s dream campaign, India took its revenge by defeating England by 68 runs in a repeat of the 2022 T20 WC semis clash.

Dinesh said, “The way our players have been performing in the tournament, they will win this World Cup. South Africa is undoubtedly playing well, but being an India I want India to win. Even more, I want to see Rohit holding the cup”.

On Virat’s poor run in the tournament, Dinesh has backed the star batter to do well in the title clash. “Virat is not in form, but I have this feeling that he will bat well today”, said Dinesh.

Virat, the leading run-scorer in T20 World Cup history, has had a shockingly disappointing tournament so far, with just 75 runs in seven innings, with two ducks and best score of 37.

Virat arrived in the tournament after a stupendous Indian Premier League (2024) season with the bat for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), where he scored 741 runs in 15 innings at 61.75 and a strike rate of 154.69, with a century and five fifties and also won the Orange Cap. Virat registered his highest-ever strike rate in his IPL career and was exceptional against spinners, taking a more attacking approach against them.

However, this aggressive approach did not work for him on the tough surfaces of Nassau County International Stadium in New York and in the Caribbean during the Super Eights and knockout stages so far.

On the other hand, Rohit is in fine touch, with 248 runs in seven games at an average of 41.33 and a strike rate of 155.97, with the best score of 92 and three half-centuries. He is the third-highest run-getter in the tournament.

India squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sanju Samson, Mohammed Siraj, Yashasvi Jaiswal

South Africa squad: Quinton de Kock(w), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram(c), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi, Ottneil Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Bjorn Fortuin, Ryan Rickelton. (ANI)