A joke has been going around on social media for the last 24 hours - the final of the T20 World Cup 2024 is between cricket's 'biggest choker' and the 'biggest choker of the last decade'. This joke being used for South Africa and India is such that hardly any fan will be hurt or saddened by it. In the world of sports, there are always talks of victory and defeat, but the team that repeatedly loses after coming close to the title is given the label of 'choker'. Whether the use of such words is right or wrong is a different debate, but the sentiment for which it is used seems right.

On Saturday 29 June, at Kensington Oval, one of the teams will free itself from this unwanted 'tag'.

On Saturday, Bridgetown in Barbados will witness a final that no one expected. Crores of Indian fans wanted Team India to play the final but not everyone expected it to reach the final. Yet, Team India, captained by Rohit Sharma, did it. Even more surprising is South Africa reaching the final, which has made it to a World Cup final for the first time in its cricket history. Only a few people would have expected Aiden Markram's team to reach the semi-finals but hardly anyone would have thought of the final.

Reason - choking.

How was your performance in the World Cup?

Well, now whatever anyone says, what one expects, all that does not matter. Only one thing is important and that is performance on the field. Both the teams have not lost any match in the tournament so far. South Africa has won all 8 matches, while Team India has won 7 matches and one match was cancelled due to rain. In such a situation, whoever becomes the champion, it is certain that for the first time a team will win the T20 World Cup without losing a single match.

According to numbers, both the teams seem to be equal at the moment but if we look at the results and performance of all these matches, while South Africa had to struggle against even the smallest teams, Team India defeated teams like Australia and England in a one-sided manner.

However, the other aspect of this is that South Africa, notorious for always losing close matches, has snatched victory from other teams on such occasions in this World Cup, which makes it dangerous.

India ahead in batting, equal competition in bowling

Still, Team India looks stronger and the reason for this is the strong performance of more batsmen along with strong bowling.

For Team India, captain Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya and Akshar Patel are consistently contributing well with the bat, while Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja have also shown strength on some occasions. However, the form of opener Virat Kohli and Shivam Dubey in the middle order is a cause of tension. On the contrary, for South Africa, only Quinton de Kock, David Miller and Tristan Stubbs have been able to contribute in terms of runs, but their performance has also shown more ups and downs than consistency. Heinrich Klaasen, Reeza Hendricks and captain Aiden Markram have not been able to do much.

There will be a tough competition between the two teams on the bowling front and if Team India has a slight edge here, it is because of the spin attack. For Team India, the pair of Kuldeep Yadav and Akshar Patel have conceded runs at an economy of around 6.5 and taken 18 wickets, while for South Africa, Keshav Maharaj and Tabrez Shamsi have taken 20 wickets while conceding runs at an economy of around 7. The competition seems to be equal but considering the quality of the spinners and the difficulty faced by the batsmen in playing them, Indian spinners look more effective. Kuldeep Yadav had taken 5 wickets in a T20 match against South Africa in November last year itself.

IND vs SA: What do the records say?

The two teams have clashed 26 times in T20 so far, out of which India has won 14 times, while South Africa has been successful 11 ​​times. If we talk about the T20 World Cup, India has won 4 times out of 6 while South Africa has won 2 times. However, before this World Cup, both the teams had clashed only once in a knockout match. In the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup 2014, Team India defeated South Africa and booked a ticket to the final. Now it remains to be seen whether South Africa will take revenge this time or Team India will continue to dominate.

Whose wait will end?

Both teams have a chance to end their long wait. While Team India is waiting to win the T20 World Cup for the second time since the 2007 victory and the first ICC title since 2013, South Africa is waiting for its first World Cup. However, this team has won an ICC event once but that came 26 years ago in 1998. In such a situation, South Africa will also enter the field with the hope of winning the second ICC title.