Rishabh Pant and Rohit Sharma deliberately faked Pan't injury to take Heinrich Klassen's wicket? Ravi Shastri's commentary sparks controversy

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri's on-air commentary has gone viral in which he claimed that India were trying everything to break the momentum of the game when Rishabh Pant was attended by the physio. During the T20 World Cup 2024 final, India were on the brink of another heartbreaking loss. 

With 30 runs needed off 30 balls and two set batters, David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen, at the crease, South Africa were just a few runs away from creating history. As expected, Jasprit Bumrah came into the attack and gave away just 4 runs in the 16th over.

With 26 needed out of 24, South Africa were still in the driver's seat. But then came one of the moments of the match which turned out to be game-changing for the Men in Blue. India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant went down and was assisted by the physio as the game was halted for a few minutes.

Also read: Rohit Sharma issues an official statement for the 1st time after T20 World Cup win with an emotional Instagram post

"India doing everything possible" - Ravi Shastri says while doing the commentary

Ravi Shastri was doing the commentary when Hardik Pandya's over started in the 17th over. Although Pant was being attended by the physio, Ravi Shastri reckoned that India were trying to slow down the game and break the momentum.

"India doing everything possible, even slow down the game so that they can break the rhythm of these two explosive batters," Shastri said on commentary.

This break in momentum helped India as Heinrich Klaasen, who was batting excellently till that point, was dismissed off the next ball by Hardik Pandya. Interestingly, it was Rishabh Pant who took the catch behind. While it's still unknown whether it was a deliberate play by India to break the rhythm of two explosive batters or not, it surely worked in India's favor.

Indian seamers finish it well

In the next over, Jasprit Bumrah removed Marco Jansen and gave away just 2 runs to make the job even more difficult for South Africa. Left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh bowled a fantastic penultimate over of the match to give away just 4 runs, which left South Africa needing 16 to win off the last over.

Hardik Pandya came in to bowl the last over with David Miller on strike. But Miller was dismissed off the first ball of the over as Suryakumar Yadav took a catch for the ages at the long-off boundary. Miller scored 21 off 17 balls and batted well for his knock but couldn't finish off the game for South Africa.

Although Kagiso Rabada hit a four off the next ball,  South African tailenders were left with too much to do. In the end, India won the match by 7 runs and brought an end to their ICC trophy drought, which has been ongoing for 11 years.

This was India's second T20 World Cup title after they won the inaugural championship in 2007. They also reached the finals in 2014 but missed out on a trophy after losing to Sri Lanka in the final.