The final of the T20 World Cup had cricket fans glued to their screens as India made an unforgettable comeback to claim the world title. South Africa, chasing a target of 177 at Barbados, appeared to be in control. However, India’s pace trio—Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya—delivered a remarkable bowling performance, leaving the Proteas stunned. South Africa lost four wickets in quick succession and India seized the moment, winning by 7 runs to become the T20 World Cup champions.
Months after the historic win, The Indian captain Rohit Sharma disclosed an intriguing behind-the-scenes tactic involving wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant. Appearing on a TV show, Rohit revealed that Rishabh Pant pretended to be injured at a crucial juncture to break the momentum of the South African batters.
Rohit Sharma stated that when South Africa needed to score 30 runs of 30 balls, a short break happened as the Indian wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant broke the rhythm of the batters by pretending to be injured and because of this, the game slowed down a bit. The skipper added that this tactical move by Pant can be considered as an important factor in the victory of the team.
Rishabh Pant later confirmed the strategy, admitting that with five overs remaining in South Africa’s innings, he pretended to get hurt and asked the physio to take his time. He noted that such tactics don’t always work but acknowledged that in a high-pressure World Cup final, it played to India’s advantage.
This is what Rishabh Pant said while speaking at an event in Bengaluru, “The momentum had shifted in their favour and they scored too many runs in just two-three overs. I told the physio to take his time as we need to waste it a bit. Rohit bhai asked me if I’m okay, I said, ‘Bhaiyaa, bas acting kar raha tha (It was just acting, I’m okay)’.”
He further added, “I’m not saying that such tricks work every time. But if the moment is like this [the T20 World Cup final] then why not.”
Here is the video clip from the event:
https://x.com/Mr_unknown23_/status/1844762099542581268
Click to watch this video directly on X
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