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India’s young wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant is truly a character behind the stumps. His stump mic commentary is hilarious and is known to disrupt the focus of the batters. However, in the final of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 final, Pant pulled off a Gulbadin Naib when he fell on the ground and asked for the physio to get his knee taped. South Africa needed 30 off 30 balls after Heinrich Klaasen went berserk against Axar Patel. The break helped India regroup as Jasprit Bumrah was brought back into the attack. Eventually, Klaasen was dismissed and India made a comeback to win the T20 World Cup 2024 by seven runs at Kensington Oval, Barbados.
“When South Africa needed 30 runs off 30 balls, just before that, there was a small break. Pant used his intelligence to pause the game - he had a knee injury, so he had his knee taped, which helped slow down the game - because the game was fast-paced, and at that moment, all a batter wants is the ball to be bowled quickly. But we had to break the rhythm. As I was setting the field and talking to bowlers, suddenly I saw Pant fallen on the ground. The physiotherapist had arrived and was taping his knee. Klassen was waiting for the match to start again. I am not saying it's the only reason, but it could be one of them - Pant Sahab used his smarts and things worked out in our favour,” he said on ‘The Great Indian Kapil Show’.
Rohit didn’t care about few fines, backlash from umpires and referees
On the first ball of the 17th over, India got the crucial breakthrough in the form of Klaasen. After Hardik Pandya infused life into the game, Rohit said that he told his players to sledge the batters even though it leads to a few fines.
“That is what happened. Hardik dismissed Klaasen in that over, and from then onwards, pressure started to build on South Africa. Then all the boys gathered and started to sledge their batters, details of which I can't disclose here, but it was essential because we had to win at any cost. To win that, we were willing to take a few fines. That is why I told the boys to say whatever they felt like; we would handle the umpires and referees later,” the 37-year-old added.
The senior trio retires
Rohit-led India ended their ICC trophy drought which lasted for more than a decade. After the title win, Rohit, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja announced their retirement from T20Is.
