Mumbai: It comes as no surprise that India’s two tallest T20 batting structures were built in 2024. This year will be remembered for India’s T20 cricket coming of age. Not just because they ended a 17-year wait for a second T20 world title, but also because they never lost focus to set the pace that the format demands.

Following last month’s 297/6 at Hyderabad against Bangladesh, India batters delivered another sensational performance on Friday – 283/1 against South Africa at Johannesburg. The Suryakumar Yadav-led side beat the Proteas 3-1 in the series with a 135-run win at Wanderers in their final T20I of the year. It was India’s 24th win in 26 games, an incredible 92.3% success percentage.

“Even before the World Cup, we spoke about what brand of cricket we want to play in T20,” Surya told reporters. “We play for different franchises in IPL, but wanted to play the same cricket here as a group; a different brand of cricket than what we did before. As to after the World Cup, if it’s going so well, why change.”

A chief architect in both of India’s 280-plus scores was Sanju Samson. The fluent right-hander finally realised his potential in international cricket with three hundreds this year. The competiton will go up next year once the playing pool widens and auditioning for the 2026 T20 World Cup picks up. But it’s a measure of India’s abundant talent pool and a shift in mindset that saw success flow despite a huge chunk of players being away in Australia for Test and India A duties. It didn’t matter that Yashasvi Jaiswal wasn’t here. Abhishek Sharma stepped up. India made tactical tweaks by going spin-heavy to cover for Jasprit Burmah’s absence.

Particularly successful were spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi, who complemented each other like Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal did earlier. Mystery spinner Chakravarthy made fundamental tweaks to his bowling, resorting to more over-spin, reaping the rewards as he finished as the highest wicket-taker (12) in the four-game series. Bishnoi was happy to play second fiddle, bowling more defensively than he usually does by the smart use of angles.

“It says a lot about how strong the base of Indian cricket is,” Surya said. “It’s because guys go back and play domestic cricket. That’s what the guys here have been speaking about.”

Arshdeep Singh, India’s most successful T20I pacer, broke the back of South Africa’s batting in the powerplay at Johannesburg. Defending 283, he bowled a fuller length on the flat deck after taking notes from Indian batters who had plundered runs off the back foot, he told the broadcasters. The swing Arshdeep got was because his wrists were moving well.

“The best format, the most challenging format where you enjoy setting up batters, is red-ball cricket. It gets your wrists moving. I played every time it was possible,” he said. “That’s how every time there is help, I got the results.”

A big positive came in the form of 22-year-old Tilak Varma. The Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians left-hander has shown what he can do in IPL, but back-to-back hundreds in India colours after being promoted to No.3 may be a lead up to bigger things.

“It was running in my mind (promoting Varma). One man has batted consistently at No.3 and done wonders for India,” Surya said, referring to Virat Kohli. “This was a perfect opportunity for a young guy who has shown a lot of promise. We both spoke to each other and felt this was the perfect time for him to take the responsibility, now and going forward as well. He walked the talk. It was incredible. I hope he continues the same way, not only in T20 cricket but all formats for India.”

Only 12 of the 15 players in the squad played the four-match series, evidence of how India treated the competition with all seriousness and not like white-ball bilateral series these days are, for trial and error. Only Rinku Singh would be disappointed, unable to make sizeable contributions in the middle-order. But lower-order finishing is a difficult gig, and the team is willing to give him a long rope.

“It’s not been a good series for me too. We have stopped thinking about all that. Good things happen to good people,” Surya said about Rinku. “Sometimes, it takes time. His time will come. He has delivered for India in crunch situations, and he will in future as well.”

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