In an interview with internet personality and comedian Tanmay Bhat, former India captain MS Dhoni reflected on and spoke about the experience of watching India win the ICC T20 World Cup in 2024, expressing his thoughts on the match.

India beat South Africa in a memorable final in Barbados, coming from behind to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat while defending a total. Dhoni, who led India to their 2007 T20 World Cup victory in the inaugural edition of the tournament, spoke about this match while at an event for the Rigi app, for whom he is a brand ambassador.

“We were at home, we were watching, some of my friends had come over. Of course, as the second innings went on, most of my friends started leaving to go out,” said Dhoni.

“I was the only one sitting, doing in and out. And they were like, arey khatam ho gaya, chalo na humare sath [it is over, come with us]. I’m like, in cricket, the match isn’t over until it is over,” he continued.

“None of them believed, even I was questioning, in the sense, you want the team to win. But internally you question it and ask yourself what will happen now.”

‘When the stakes are high…’

“And one of the things I firmly believed was that their batsmen were slightly light on the batting order,” continued India’s iconic captain. “And we have seen so often that when there is that much pressure in cricket, anything can happen.”

“So there was a time when they were firmly cruising, but when the stakes are high and when it is very crucial, when the games are big you get a chance and you want to make the most of it. So, I feel we were able to do that. And that is why we won the trophy,” concluded Dhoni.

Dhoni was renown for keeping a cool head in pressure situations when captaining the team, seeing his team home in the World Cup final in 2011 with the bat, and making key decisions in the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy while trying to defend a total.

The 2024 World Cup win saw Rohit Sharma make bold decisions despite South Africa needing less than run a ball with under 5 overs left, such as bowling Jasprit Bumrah out early and heaping pressure on the Proteas, allowing Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh to become heroes by taking crucial wickets of Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller late in the chase.

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