India star with Sanju Samson connection bluntly reveals supporting South Africa in T20 World Cup 2024 final

A video of Dhruv Jurel, who is Sanju Samson's Rajasthan Royals teammate, celebrating India's victory in the final of the just-concluded ICC T20 World Cup 2024 recently went viral. In the video, the highly-rated wicketkeeper-batsman could be seen celebrating India's stunning victory in an animated manner with his friends.

The Men in Blue beat South Africa by 7 runs in the final last week to win the T20 World Cup after a long gap of 17 years. Fortunes swung from one to another throughout the thrilling game before India finally prevailed. India had their back against the wall on numerous occasions during the title decider in Barbados.

Rohit Sharma's decision to bat first proved costly in the early phase of the game as India were off to a disastrous start. They were reeling at 34 for 3 inside 5 overs with Rohit, Rishabh Pant, and Suryakumar Yadav back in the hut. However, Virat Kohli's (76) fighting fifty and Axar Patel's 47-run knock helped India recover and post a competitive total of 176/7.

Did you also celebrate like Dhruv Jurel and his friends? 🔥🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/BHqgoy8f46

— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) June 30, 2024

In reply, South Africa lost two wickets inside the powerplay as well but quickly recovered thanks to a 58-run stand between Quinton de Kock and Tristan Stubbs. Heinrich Klaasen then scored a whirlwind fifty to put his team on the verge of a historic win.

At 151/4 after 16 overs with Klaasen and David Miller in the middle, the win looked like a mere formality for the Proteas. However, India's bowlers turned things around in a remarkable fashion and went on to restrict South Africa to 169/8 to power the team to a monumental victory.

Why was Dhruv Jurel cheering for South Africa:

While the entire country was rooting for Team India in the final, Dhruv Jurel revealed that he was actually supporting South Africa and also explained the reason behind it. The Uttar Pradesh star recalled that he decided to support South Africa after noticing that whichever team he was supporting found itself in a losing position. As a result, he decided to root for the Proteas in the final.

"When I was watching the final and cheering for India, South Africa came in the winning position. So I started cheering for South Africa and India made a comeback. I kept cheering for South Africa and India won the World Cup," said Dhruv Jurel in a video posted by the BCCI.

Meanwhile, Jurel is currently in Zimbabwe for the upcoming five-match T20I series. The young wicketkeeper made his Test debut earlier this year and enjoyed an impressive outing. He has now earned his maiden call-up for T20Is and will be hoping to impress in the upcoming series as well.