The IPL 2024 season came to an end on Sunday (May 26), with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) lifting the title by defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the final at Chepauk.
In a one-sided affair, KKR bundled out SRH for a below-par 113 in 18.3 overs. Mitchell Starc and Andre Russel shared five wickets while youngsters Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora claimed three scalps between them.
In reply, the Knight Riders gunned down the target without breaking a sweat. While Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored 39 off 32 balls at the top, Venkatesh Iyer stayed unbeaten on 52 off 26 balls to seal the deal in 10.3 overs.
No T20 World Cup-bound Indian players featured in the IPL 2024 final. Rinku Singh was part of KKR's XI, but has been named as a reserve for the ICC tournament, slated to be held in the West Indies and USA from June 1 to June 29.
In an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda Cricket, former Pakistan pacer Wasim Akram called it a 'blessing in disguise' for Indian cricket.
"Well, now at least none of them will have to say that they are tired. They were thinking ahead, what is the point of reaching the final, India is more important, we will play with the country. But it could be a blessing in disguise for India," Akram said.
"We discussed in the previous show that I was worried that they might be tired, and they will be tired, no doubt. Even America is not their road. I think Pakistan's first match is Dallas if I remember. Now they will go and play there, one or two practice matches. It will be okay, I suppose. It is T20, the boys will recover, nowadays fitness levels are very high," he further added.
The Indian squad has already reached New York for the T20 World Cup 2024. As part of their preparations, the Rohit Sharma-led side will face Bangladesh at Nassau County on June 1.
India will open their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign against Ireland in New York on June 5.
India Squad: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh
Travelling Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan
