T20 World Cup 2024 | "Play with freedom": Ganguly backs India ahead of the final vs SA

Sourav Ganguly (Pic: File Pic)

Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly said Rohit Sharma's leadership qualities played a crucial role in the "Men in Blue" unbeaten run in the T20 World Cup 2024. Also ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024 finals against South Africa, Ganguly urged Indian players to play with freedom to end their 11-year ICC trophy drought.

Team India will lock horns with the Proteas at Bridgetown, Barbados, for the T20 World Cup 2024 title and will be eyeing their first global trophy since winning the Champions Trophy in 2013.

"I'm very happy for Rohit Sharma. Life comes full circle. Six months ago he was not even the captain of Mumbai Indians and the same man is now leading India to a World Cup final, unbeaten," Ganguly said here after being roped in as the brand ambassador of Veedol.

After Virat Kohli stepped down from the captaincy, Rohit was hesitating to take up the captaincy role, revealed Ganguly.

"He has played two World Cup finals where he has gone into the final unbeaten. That speaks of his captaincy and leadership quality and I'm not surprised because he became captain when I was the BCCI president and when Virat didn't want to captain India anymore.

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"It took a lot of time to make him captain because he was not ready to captain. It took a lot of pushing from all of us to make him captain and I'm very happy to see the progress of Indian cricket under him."

Ganguly said winning IPL titles could sometimes be more challenging because of the duration of the tournament. "Rohit has the record of winning five IPL titles, which is a huge achievement. Winning an IPL sometimes is more difficult. Don't misquote me, I'm not saying IPL is better than international cricket.

"But you have to win 16-17 (12-13) matches to win an IPL; here you need to win 8-9 matches to win a World Cup. The honour is more in winning the World Cup, and I hope Rohit does it tomorrow."

"I don't think he can lose two World Cup finals in seven (six) months. He will probably jump into the Barbados ocean if he loses two finals under his captaincy in seven months. He has led from the front, batted brilliantly, and I hope it continues tomorrow. Hope India finishes on the right side, and they should play with freedom.

"They have been the best side of the competition. I wish them luck, I wish they win. Hope they have a little bit of luck tomorrow because that is required to win big tournaments," Ganguly added.

Since their Champions Trophy victory, India has reached the final of the 2014 T20 World Cup, the 2023 50-over World Cup and the WTC final twice without winning any of them.

"I look at it differently. At least we are getting to the finals, we can only win once we get to the final," he said.

"The positive thing is India is not getting eliminated. Secondly, they are dominating. You saw the World Cup in India seven months ago; they were the best side in the competition, although they lost to Australia in the final.

Also Read: T20 World Cup 2024, IND vs SA: Previous faceoffs, top-scorers, highest totals

"They were a better side than Australia right through the tournament; they just had one bad day," he pointed out.
Ganguly said it's a huge moment for South African cricket to enter their maiden World Cup final, 32 years after their return to international cricket.

"It's a huge moment for South African cricket. Imagine a team that came back to international cricket in 1992, and it took them 32 years to play in a World Cup final. So, it's going to be a big day for both teams," he said.

Premier batsman Virat Kohli is struggling to score runs in the T20 World Cup 2024. Following this, Ganguly feels that he should continue playing in that position.

"Virat should continue to open. He just had a World Cup of 700 runs seven months ago. He is human. Sometimes, he will also fail, and you have to accept it.

"People like Kohli, (Sachin) Tendulkar, (Rahul) Dravid, they are institutions for Indian cricket. Three-four matches don't make them weaker players. Don't rule him out in the final tomorrow," added Ganguly.

Former England cricketer Michael Vaughan has opposed the ICC to favour India for providing them spin-friendly pitches in the T20 World Cup 2024 semifinal.

Vaughan also accused broadcasters of giving India a favourable time slot of 8 pm IST in all their matches. Dismissing such claims, Ganguly said: "Michael Vaughan is a very dear friend of mine. I don't know how ICC helps India win cricket matches by keeping the broadcast at 8 pm IST in the evening. I don't know how broadcasting wins you cricket matches. You still have to play in the middle and win."

"Secondly, I don't know why Guyana is thought to be a venue for winning when they have gone around and won everywhere."

Ganguly underlined his point by saying that India's consistent on-field performance makes it a dominant force.
"Yes, India are a dominant force in world cricket, by its performance, by its broadcast, and by the money it brings to the table.

"You know if you own 80 percent of a company's shares, you will get more dividends and profits than others. It's the rule of life. India are the same," he said.

(With PTI Inputs)