Team India was on the verge of another heartbreak in an ICC event as South Africa dominated the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 final with the bat. With 30 runs needed from 30 balls and some of the key South African batters in the middle, South Africa had the upperhand in the game until a tactical decision by Rishabh Pant to halt the game broke their momentum as well. In a candid chat about India’s T20 World Cup 2024 triumph, Rohit Sharma revealed how Pant’s clever idea helped India win.

“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 had said.

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Rohit Sharma also said that he thought Pant had hurt himself as he went down, and thought it was probably the car crash injuries that were hurting him in the middle.

“See, Hardik has come to bowl there. So, we were discussing with Hardik what to do. I didn’t know what had happened before. I genuinely thought that something had happened to him. The accident he had, I thought he was just trying to. But actually, it was just to stop the game a little bit. The momentum was with them. So, it was very important to break that. So, I think we went back to that. Eventually, Hardik dismissed Klaasen,” Rohit Sharma explained on Star Sports.