Heartbreak or glory, India and South Africa are already winners

The fast bowlers went out to party that night. They already booked a band. They ordered champagne too. They were 122 for 2 at stumps, chasing 201 in their first Test since readmission. Ten debutants led by Kepler Wessels, who had played for Australia before. Tired and exhausted at the end of a long spell away from home. About to beat the mighty West Indies in a Test, right here in Barbados.

The next morning, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh unleashed the fury of the West Indies on a pitch as unpredictable as the hurricane season. Some balls flew past the shoulder, others slid along the ground. South Africa lost their last eight wickets for 25 runs, beaten comfortably by 51 runs. They did not know what to do with the strip.

In their first six months back in international cricket, this was South Africa’s second heartbreak. Who knew back then that heartbreak would define South African cricket, even 32 years later?

Kensington Oval has a habit of breaking hearts. Five years later, India entered the fourth day with just 118 wickets in hand for their first victory on this legendary ground. Ambrose, Ian Bishop and Franklyn Rose bowled them out for 81.

As the two finalists, the best teams in the 2024 T20 World Cup, return to Kensington Oval full of hope and excitement, the dominant narrative will be one of heartbreak. A vast majority of cricket followers have decided that these two teams – indeed teams representing these two countries – are “smotherers”. South Africa because they buckled at the first sign of “knockout pressure”, having failed to win nine of the 11 such matches they have played so far. This is their first World Cup final. India have been the most consistent limited-overs team since around 2014, but they have not won a world title: two finals and four semi-finals in seven World Cups. This is their third final in eight.

Not to mention not valuing consistency and judging teams on a one-game-a-year basis – credit for getting there soon after the defeat – these teams are not homogeneous units. This South Africa is nothing like the team that wasn’t really aware of the Duckworth-Lewis team sheets more than 20 years ago. Most of them weren’t even born in 1992, but one can imagine what the dressing room would have felt like with champagne on ice and the opposition on fire. Rahul Dravid, the India coach who says he’s quit his playing days anyway, is the only link to the 1997 team, but one thinks of 81 all out when one thinks of Barbados.

Either way, much of this narrative is post facto. In the 1999 ODI World Cup semi-final, for example, did South Africa choke or did Australia choke after making an improbable comeback from the dead and now let go of catch after catch and play straight into the slot for Lance Klusener?

Australia have failed to progress from the group stages in four of the last five T20 World Cups, but they are somehow considered a better T20 team than those two finalists because they have won a title in that time. It is cruel to judge and define teams based on this one game, especially in a highly volatile format that relies on small events.

Again, that’s how it is. This is a reality that participants appreciate more than anyone. Because they have to live with it. They have to play it like any other game but know that it’s not seen that way. They must not admit the role that luck can play. Yet, compulsively, they must follow the same routines. On the eve of the final, the Indian coaches and captain Rohit Sharma came to check the pitch. Before leaving, they made sure they had the same dressing room as when they won the Super Eight match here.

When South Africa came to train, coach Rob Walter surveyed the pitch then walked slowly and deliberately towards each square boundary, as if measuring which side is longer, although this information could be easily obtained from field staff.

They come out with clichés in press conferences, but they are simply trying to control the uncontrollable, which is very common in our sport. Even more in this format. They are two of the best teams in the tournament because they have the best squads for these conditions, they prepared well, they read the conditions better than the others and they arrived with better tactics. They are expert players who go through rigorous training and fitness regimes to get this far, but in the end, they also add lime and chili.

Sometimes it’s about not getting too carried away and following the same processes. You may want to follow the same routines diligently to ensure this. But you must always be careful that the opponent does not have any surprises in store for you. This usually happens when a team has nothing to lose; these two have a lot.

Rohit experienced extreme frustration: he narrowly missed out on being part of the last Indian team to win the ODI World Cup and came close to being selected in the knockout matches in all three formats. This could well be his last chance. For Dravid, who suffered another heartbreak in the West Indies in the 2007 World Cup and has never won a single World Cup, this is definitely his last chance for now. His two masterpieces on a brutal Jamaican track in 2006 will not be remembered. His inability to win a World Cup, yes.

South Africa has a country to soothe after the agony of the “big game” of the last three decades. Their former players wanted a thoughtful recovery. They don’t want this to become another obstacle. With a reserve day scheduled and the weather looking doubtful afterwards, the losing side will have plenty of time to mull things over before they leave.

No one has booked a party yacht yet, but no one has booked their flight home either. They’re all thinking about the finale right now trying not to think about it too much and exhausting themselves, if that makes sense. Or as much as possible in sports.