‘It's going to take them a long time to get over this’ - Russell Domingo on South Africa’s T20 World Cup final loss

South Africa were in the pole position to win the T20 World Cup 2024 final against India. 30 runs were required in the final five overs and with David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen on the crease, there was no tension in the South African camp. However, ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah changed the game for India as he bowled two brilliant overs to put South Africa under pressure. Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya were incredible as well, as India won the game by seven runs to clinch the trophy.

Speaking of the same, former South Africa head coach Russell Domingo stated that the players will take a long time to recover from the loss. Notably, the Proteas were playing their first ICC final in history and were the favourites at one point. Yet, they failed to win it, which hurt several players emotionally. 

“It's going to take them a long time to get over this because it just takes so much out of you,” Domingo was quoted as saying by Sports Cafe.

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South Africa’s struggle in the World Cup is nothing new. They were regarded as ‘chokers’ in the cricketing community after losing several key matches that they should have won. The final was one such instance. However, they earned respect for playing an aggressive brand of cricket throughout the tournament and are now regarded as one of the best T20I sides.

Multiple players feature in the Indian Premier League, which helped the country grow and the SA20 has also helped them reach newer heights as young players are bursting into the scene much earlier than it used to happen before.

“We're seeing these youngsters come in and they're straight into the game, whereas maybe before it took a little bit longer to get into international cricket. They're getting into it very quickly and we're seeing the performances coming,” Russell stated during the T20 World Cup final.