Rohit Sharma reveals how Rishabh Pant’s masterplan helped India beat South Africa in T20 World Cup final

The T20 World Cup 2024 final is still fresh in the minds of fans. Be it Suryakumar Yadav’s catch, the pacers’ brilliant bowling in the death overs or Virat Kohli’s resolute half-century, there are several factors that helped India beat South Africa in the title clash. However, skipper Rohit Sharma has now revealed another factor that played a big role in India’s win. During his appearance on Kapil Sharma’s comedy show, Rohit revealed that wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant thought of a brilliant move to slow things down in the middle, which helped India disrupt South Africa’s rhythm and paved the way for victory in India’s favour.

On the show, he said, “When South Africa needed 30 runs from 30 balls, there was a short break right before that. Pant used his wit to stop the play – he had a knee injury, so he put tape on his knee, which slowed down the game – because the game was moving at a fast pace, and at that point, the batsman just wanted the ball to be bowled quickly. But we had to break the momentum. When I was setting the field and talking to the bowlers, suddenly I saw Pant fall on the ground. The physiotherapist had come and was putting tape on his knee. Klaasen was waiting for the match to resume. I am not saying this is the only reason, but it could be one of them – Pant sahab used his wit and things turned in our favour.”

After the break, Hardik Pandya dismissed the dangerous Heinrich Klaasen, clearing the way for the Indian team to put themselves back in the driving seat. Although David Miller had also threatened to take the title away from the team, the pressure was on South Africa in the last 2-3 overs and India took advantage of the situation.

“That’s what happened. Hardik dismissed Klaasen in that over and from then on, the pressure started mounting on South Africa. Then all the boys gathered and started sledging their batsmen, the details of which I cannot give here, but it was necessary because we had to win at any cost. To win, we were willing to take some penalties. So I told the boys to say whatever they feel; we will deal with the umpires and referee later,” he explained.