Final battle between 2 chokers: India in 2011, South Africa waiting for World Cup since 32 years; who will remove his stain?

The biggest chokers of the century, South Africa, are facing the biggest chokers of the decade, India, in the T20 World Cup today. The African team, which has been playing white ball cricket since 1992, has not been able to win a single World Cup till date, while Team India has been waiting for the World Cup since 2011.

South Africa did not win the World Cup, but that does not mean that the team has not won any ICC trophy. They won the Champions Trophy in 1998. This is the first and last ICC trophy in their cricket history.

Coincidentally, India also won its last ICC title in the form of Champions Trophy. However, 11 years have passed since then. That means a decade has passed since India won the ICC trophy.

Whatever be the result of today’s final, one thing is clear that one team will definitely remove the tag of chokers from its forehead. Yes, if the match gets cancelled then both the teams can wash off their stain because if the match ends in a draw then the trophy will be shared between the two teams. That means the drought of both will end.

Let’s know the condition of both the teams in the ICC tournament, starting with South Africa…

Lost 5 semi-finals in ODI World Cup
South Africa played the ODI World Cup for the first time in 1992 after the ICC ban was lifted. The team performed brilliantly and made it to the semi-finals, but lost to England. From 1996 to 2015, the team reached the knockout round 5 times out of 6, but sometimes got eliminated after losing in the quarter-finals and sometimes in the semi-finals. In 2003 and 2019, the team could not reach the knockout round.

In 2023, South Africa made a comeback and played the semi-finals, but lost to Australia. The team lost this third ODI World Cup semi-final against Australia. Apart from this, the team has lost knockouts twice to New Zealand and once each to West Indies and England. The team won the only knockout match in 2015, when South Africa defeated Sri Lanka in the quarter-finals.

The only success came in the Champions Trophy
In 1998, the ICC started its second 50-over tournament for the first time in the form of the Champions Trophy. It was sometimes called the Wills International and sometimes the Knockout Trophy, but now it is known as the Champions Trophy. South Africa performed brilliantly in it and won the trophy by winning 3 consecutive knockout matches. Jacques Kallis became the Player of the Match and Player of the Tournament.

This was the first and last ICC title of South Africa’s senior cricket team. After this, the team participated in the Champions Trophy 7 times, but could not even reach the final, let alone the title. The team lost two consecutive semi-finals to India in 2000 and 2002. In 2006, West Indies and in 2013, England defeated them in the semi-finals and eliminated them.

South Africa could not even cross the group stage in 2004, 2009 and 2017. After the first title, the team played 5 knockout matches in the Champions Trophy, lost 4 semi-finals. It also won the only quarter-final against England in the year 2000. That means the team has been choking in the World Cup for 32 years and in the Champions Trophy for 26 years.

Will play first final in T20 World Cup
When the World Cup of the shortest format of cricket started in 2007, the ICC gave the hosting rights to South Africa. The team defeated West Indies in the very first match. In the Super-8 also, the team won 2 matches in a row, but had to be eliminated from the group stage after losing the last match to India.

In 2009, South Africa again reached the semi-finals, but this time lost to Pakistan. In 2010 and 2012, it was eliminated from the group stage. In 2014, it reached the semi-finals, but was eliminated after losing to India.

From 2016 to 2022, the team again got out of the group stage and now in 2024, it has made it to the finals for the first time. The team defeated Afghanistan in the semi-finals and won a knockout match in the T20 World Cup for the first time. South Africa has a chance to win its first World Cup today.

Did not play a single WTC final
After the Champions Trophy, ODI World Cup and T20 World Cup, ICC also started a Test format tournament in 2019. It was named World Test Championship i.e. WTC, in which 6-6 series are played between the top-9 teams for 2 years. The final is played between the top-2 teams at the end of the points table. South Africa has not been able to reach the final of this tournament till date.

South Africa lost 10 semi-finals in 26 years
From 1999 to 2024, South Africa played 23 ICC tournaments. The team was eliminated from the group stage 11 times, but also reached the knockout stage 12 times. The team was tagged as chokers because they lost 11 out of 14 matches in the knockout stage. These include 10 semi-finals and one quarter-final.

South Africa won 2 out of 3 knockout stage wins in the quarter-finals. The team won the semi-finals of an ICC tournament for the first time in 26 years when they defeated Afghanistan to enter the final.

Now let’s find out why Team India is the biggest choker of the decade…

No success in T20 World Cup after 2007
India won the first T20 World Cup in 2007, the team won the trophy by defeating Pakistan by 5 runs in the final. After this, the team played 7 more T20 World Cups. The team reached the knockout stage i.e. semi-finals and finals thrice, but missed the title.

In 2014, India defeated South Africa in the semi-finals, but lost the final to Sri Lanka. In 2016, India reached the knockouts on its home ground, but lost the semi-finals to West Indies. In 2022, the team reached the knockouts for the last time, but this time England defeated it by 10 wickets.

Meanwhile, in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2021, the team could not even cross the group stage. Now in the World Cup of this format, India has confirmed the ticket to the final for the third time. The team defeated England by 68 runs in the semi-finals.

Yearned for success in ODI World Cup after 2011
India won the last ODI World Cup title in 2011. 28 years ago in 1983, the team got its first success in the World Cup of this format. Then the team won the trophy by defeating West Indies in the final and Sri Lanka in the final in 2011. After this, India played 3 more ODI World Cups, every time the team reached the knockout stage, but could not win the title in even one.

In 2015, India defeated Bangladesh in the quarter-finals, but lost to home team Australia in the semi-finals. In 2019, New Zealand defeated India in the semi-finals. In 2023, India again levelled the score and defeated New Zealand in the semi-finals, but the team could not win against Australia in the final.

The last title of Champions Trophy was won in 2013
India won its first Champions Trophy title in 2002, but the final was inconclusive and it had to share the trophy with Sri Lanka. After this, in 2013, the team defeated England in the final on their home ground and captured the trophy. This was India’s last ICC trophy in the last 11 years.

After 2013, the Champions Trophy tournament was held only once in 2017. India defeated Bangladesh in the semi-finals and entered the finals for the second consecutive time, but suffered a huge defeat of 180 runs against Pakistan. After this the Champions Trophy did not take place, now the tournament will be held in Pakistan in 2025.

Lost both the finals of the World Test Championship
The final of the WTC i.e. World Test Championship has been held only twice so far in 2021 and 2023. India made it to the finals both times, but lost both times. In 2021, New Zealand defeated them by 8 wickets and in 2023, Australia defeated them by 209 runs.

India has lost 5 finals in 10 years
Team India is definitely the biggest chokers of the decade, but India does not have a team that loses in the semi-finals like South Africa. This team loses after reaching the final. In the last 11 years, Team India has lost 5 finals of 11 ICC tournaments. Not only this, India has also lost 4 semi-finals.

Since 2014, India has played 14 knockout matches in ICC tournaments. The team has won 5 and lost 9. Out of 5, 4 wins were in the semi-finals, while one win came in the quarter-finals. Australia has defeated India in 2 out of 5 finals. Pakistan, Sri Lanka and New Zealand have defeated India in 1-1 finals.

India will play its fourth ICC final in 12 months
India has reached the finals of all the ICC tournaments it has played in the last 12 months. This includes the Under-19 Men’s World Cup, which was played in January this year. Before this, India’s senior team also played the finals of the ODI World Cup and the World Test Championship.

Team India had to face defeat from Australia in all three finals. Now the team will face South Africa after defeating big teams like Australia and England in the ICC final of T20 format. Now the result of this match will decide how much the pain of 11 years of defeat outweighed the pain of 26 years.

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Graphics: Ankit Pathak, Kunal Sharma

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