Watch: Ravi Shastri humiliates match referee Richie Richardson during toss, leaving Rohit Sharma in splits

Veteran commentator Ravi Shastri was at his hilarious best during the toss time of the final of the T20 World Cup 2024 between India and South Africa. The summit clash of the tournament between the teams is underway at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown Barbados. 

The energy was pretty high ahead of the start of the final of the T20 World Cup 2024. Fans turned out in big numbers to support their respective teams and it turned out to be a mega event their loud cheers were matched by the Ravi Shastri at the toss. 

Ravi Shastri came up with another electrifying introduction for the captains of both teams in the final. With his staggering words, he left India skipper Rohit Sharma and South Africa captain Aiden Markram in splits along with the match referee. 

But what caught the attention of many was the way he called out match referee Richie Richardson. The former India head coach called him a punching bag and the captains around couldn't control their laughter. Speaking at the toss, he stated: 

"In the green corner, ready to land an uppercut for the first time, in South Africa captain Aiden Markram. And punching through the tournament is Rohit Sharma. West Indies' very own, the one there to keep things calm and be the potential punching bag is match referee Richie Richardson." 

Here's the video: 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by ICC (@icc)

Coming to the toss, India won the toss and opted to bat first. They were off to a brisk start with the bat as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma hit sensational boundaries upfront but after that, South Africa pulled back things incredibly well as they chipped in three wickets quickly in skipper, Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav (3).

The promotion of Axar Patel (47) paid off highly for the Indian team as the all-rounder bailed the team out of trouble and played a sensational innings, making sure he put the pressure back on the opposition. He along with Virat Kohli (76) joined hands and added 72 runs that put Men in Blue back to the top of the game as they looked all set for a big total. Kohli, who was out of form made sure that he stands tall for his team in the big final. Coming into the game, the batter had just 75 runs and when the chips were down, he raised his hands up. 

India and South Africa playing XI for the final of T20 World Cup 2024 

Both India and South Africa have gone with the unchanged XI in the final of the T20 World Cup 2024. 

Here's the playing XI of both the teams:

South Africa: Quinton de Kock(w), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram(c), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi 

India: Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah