New Zealand pacer Tim Southee revealed his feelings after dropping Rishabh Pant in the recently-concluded World Test Championship Final against India. He felt like dropping the World Test Championship title after dropping Indian wicketkeeper on the reserve day of the final.
India were playing at 64/2 overnight with Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara were batting at the crease. A draw was more likely other than New Zealand’s victory. Kyle Jamieson removed both overnight batsmen to give NZ a sniff. Rishabh Pant is known for batting fearless and edged one ball in the slip cordon which Southee spilt to the ground.
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Southee revealed it felt like dropping the final because Pant can take the game away in no time and could have been a defining moment in the final outcome.
“I’d be lying if it didn’t go through my head. Just because of the nature of the way that Pant played,” Southee said when he was asked whether he thought he had dropped the WTC title after giving a life to Pant in The Matt and Jerry show.
He admitted there were demons in his head after the drop but he quickly shrugged them off before bowling his next over.
“He can take the game away from you in the space of five or six overs. So, what was already in a tight game there were some demons thrown around inside my head. But I had to drop those as I bowled the next over. You’ve just got to suck it up and move on. But I was very relieved when Pant was out,” Southee added.
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Pant didn’t look at his fluent best on that day and tried to take on Kiwi pacers several times. He finally departed playing a rash shot against Trent Boult when batting on 41, highest for India in the second innings.
“It was a horrible feeling. Probably the worst feeling for a cricketer when you drop a catch, you feel like you’re letting your mates down,” Southee said.
India were shot out for 170 in the second innings and New Zealand were required 139 runs to become the inaugural champions of the WTC. Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor played sensibly to weather the storm and take New Zealand home with eight wickets in hand.
Talking about the chances of New Zealand winning the title at the start of the WTC back in 2019, Southee said, “No, two years ago we lost our first test to Sri Lanka but like any world event you hope in entering it that you’re there in the end. We played some pretty good cricket along the way and we managed to find ourselves in the last two with a bit of luck along the way as well.”
