Days after India's captain, Rohit Sharma, revealed that Rishabh Pant had feigned a knee injury to disrupt the momentum of South Africa's chase in the T20 World Cup 2024 final in Barbados, the wicketkeeper-batter has finally shed light on what truly transpired on that fateful day in June.
Speaking on 'The Great Indian Kapil Show', Rohit Sharma recounted the pivotal moment when South Africa seemed to have the chase under control, needing just 26 runs off the final 24 balls with Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller well-set at the crease. As Rohit was strategizing with bowler Hardik Pandya, he noticed Pant on the ground with the team physio attending to him.
Rohit Sharma believed that Pant's injury tactic, which caused a brief delay in the game played a crucial role in disrupting South Africa's momentum. While he did not attribute the entire victory to that moment, he did commend Pant's quick thinking.
Pant has now confirmed that he did indeed pretend to be injured in an effort to halt the onslaught from Klaasen's bat.
"I actually thinking what to do because the momentum had suddenly shifted (in South Africa's favour), they had scored plenty of runs in 2-3 overs, so I was thinking when will that moment come when we will the World Cup final," Pant said in a Star Sports show.
During Pant's narration, the video of the incident was displayed on the giant screen. The 25-year-old disclosed that he had asked the physiotherapist to take his time. When Captain Rohit inquired about Pant's knee, he responded by stating that he was merely feigning injury.
"I was asking the physio to take time. When Rohit bhai asked if my knee is fine I said, 'Bhaiya, mast acting kar raha tha' (I was acting all this while). Sometimes you have to do these types of things in matches. I'm not saying it works every time, but it does work sometimes and if it works at that kind of a moment, then nothing like it."
The momentum of the match shifted in India's favor during the 17th over. Hardik dismissed Klaasen, and then Jasprit Bumrah removed Marco Jansen with a delivery that could trouble even the most skilled top-order batsmen. Hardik and Arshdeep Singh then controlled the game from the other end, leading India to a victory over South Africa by 7 runs. This win marked the end of India's 13-year pursuit for a World Cup title.
This tournament was particularly significant for Pant, as it was his first ICC event since returning from a lengthy injury layoff.
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