T20 World Cup 2024: Indian players carry Rahul Dravid, give him iconic farewell after T20 World Cup victory

Rahul Dravid. (Source – Getty Images)

Saturday, June 29, turned out to be a red-letter day in Indian cricket as the Men in Blue became only the third nation to lift the T20 World Cup title for the second time.

India defeated South Africa by seven runs in the summit clash at the Kensington Oval in Barbados to end their 11-year wait for an ICC title. It was Rahul Dravid’s last day as the head coach of the Indian team and the 51-year-old signed off on a high.

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Dravid took up the role of India’s head coach after Ravi Shastri stepped down from the prestigious position following the T20 World Cup in 2021. During Dravid’s tenure, India reached the semi-finals of the 2022 T20 World Cup and finals of the World Test Champions and ODI World Cup in 2023. However, the Asian giants couldn’t get over the line. This, however, changed on Saturday, as India won the T20 World Cup after 17 years.

After the memorable triumph, Indian players lifted Dravid and tossed him in the air. It turned out to be an emotional moment for the former India captain, who won his nation many battles during his playing days but never lifted a World Cup. On his way out, it was a fitting farewell for the Indore-born and the Indian players showed their gratitude and acknowledged his contributions during his coaching tenure.

While Dravid relinquished his role as India’s head coach, the iconic duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli announced their retirements from the shortest format of the game.

India won the toss on Saturday and opted to bat first. After losing three wickets for 34 runs inside the powerplay, Kohli and Axar Patel steadied the ship with a 72-run partnership off 54 balls. Kohli top-scored with a 59-ball 76, while Axar made 47 off 31 balls as India finished on 176/7 in their 20 overs.

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In reply, Quinton de Kock and Tristan Stubbs played solid knocks to take the Proteas to a strong position before Heinrich Klaasen’s 27-ball 52 turned things massively in their favour. At one stage, South Africa needed 26 runs off 24 balls with six wickets in the bank. However, some excellent death bowling helped the Asian giants restrict their opponents to 169/8, winning the game by seven runs.