If India's Virat Kohli is King of batting, Rishabh Pant is a comeback king whose never-die spirit has been acknowledged worldwide. Not to mention, Pant's presence of mind on the field is discussed by critics, players and fans.
Recently, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma remembered an incident about Pant that helped change the results of the ICC T20 World Cup final with South Africa in Barbados on 29 June.
Rohit disclosed how Pant's 'knee injury' play helped India beat South Africa in the T20 World Cup final and how India risked being fined during the final overs of the match.
The Indian skipper recalled that when South Africa were in absolute control of the chase with 30 required of the final 30 balls, and Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller at the crease, he saw Pant was down on the ground with the team physio attending him.
Rohit added that Pant's act caused a short delay in the game and was key in breaking South Africa's momentum.
“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.
Days after Rohit's disclosure to the incident, pant opened up on what actually transpired on that fateful day.
The wicket-keeper batter said, as quoted by 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."
Pant also revealed that he requested the physio to take his time, adding he told the skipper he was just acting when asked by Rohit if he was okay.
"I was asking the physio to take time. When Rohit bhai asked if my knee is fine I said, 'Bhaiya, mast 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," Pant said.
This whole incident somehow turned the tide in India's favour and India defeated South Africa by 7 runs to end 13-year-long quest for a World Cup title.
