India's Head Coach Rahul Dravid and team captain Rohit Sharma with players Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja and BCCI Secretary Jay Shah during celebration after India defeated South Africa in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup final cricket match, at Kensington Oval, in Bridgetown, Barbados. (AP)Rishabh Pant finally opened up about the now-infamous stoppage during the T20 World Cup final against South Africa after the Indian wicketkeeper required the attention of the team physio.
In a recent taping of The Great Indian Kapil Show, Indian captain Rohit Sharma conceded that it was a master ploy with the Proteas requiring only 30 runs from as many deliveries and six wickets in hand.
“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 (he did so), but it could be one of them – Pant Sahab used his wits and things worked out in our favour,” Rohit had said.
Speaking on the same, Pant told Star Sports, “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.
“I was asking the physio to take time. When Rohit bhai asked if my knee is fine I said, ‘Bhaiya, bas 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,” he added.
Indian pacers thereafter turned the tide in the team’s favor as the team won the final by a seven-run margin.
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