New Delhi: Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant on Sunday shared his insights on Suryakumar Yadav’s crucial catch that secured India’s victory over South Africa in the final of the ICC T20 World Cup in June. Pant attributed the catch and the result to the prayers of Indian fans.
India ended their 11-year drought in the ICC Trophy with a seven-run win in the final in Barbados.
India were 176/7 in 20 overs, with Bumrah and Pandya restricting South Africa to 169/8. Heinrich Klaasen’s quick-fire 52 runs from 27 balls put South Africa in a strong position, but the Indian bowlers turned the game around.
Axar Patel’s over cost him 24 runs but the trio of Bumrah, Pandya and Arshdeep Singh added to the pressure. Pandya’s catch of Klaasen and David Miller’s catch in Yadav’s last over were crucial moments.
Speaking on Tanmay Bhat’s YouTube channel, Pant recalled Surya’s catch, “When the ball was in the air, everything seemed lost. When it hit the bat, it looked like it was definitely going to be a six. Thanks to the prayers of the Indian fans, the ball did not cross the boundary line.”
Pant also spoke about his aggressive style of play and his relationship with former coach Ravi Shastri and current captain Rohit Sharma.
“I like Bazball when I see it, but when I did it before, I didn’t like it,” Pant said.
“It was an amazing relationship. There was a lot of freedom and understanding with Ravi Bhai. Instead of telling me not to do something, he would give me better options. I believe in that approach. I don’t like it when someone tells me something is impossible. At one point, I was going out to the off-spinners very often. He told me to do something about facing the off-spinners. He told me to start reverse sweeping against the off-spinners,” he recalled.
Pant played a pivotal role in India’s T20 World Cup campaign, becoming India’s third-highest run-scorer and taking 14 offences behind the stumps.
Going forward, Pant will be part of the Indian squad for the Test series against Bangladesh beginning on September 19 in Chennai and the subsequent series, including the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.
The two-match series against Bangladesh will be played in Chennai and Kanpur from September 19 and September 27 respectively.
Indian squad for the first Test against Bangladesh: Rohit Sharma(C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant(WK), Dhruv Jurel(WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah and Yash Dayal.
India ended their 11-year drought in the ICC Trophy with a seven-run win in the final in Barbados.
India were 176/7 in 20 overs, with Bumrah and Pandya restricting South Africa to 169/8. Heinrich Klaasen’s quick-fire 52 runs from 27 balls put South Africa in a strong position, but the Indian bowlers turned the game around.
Axar Patel’s over cost him 24 runs but the trio of Bumrah, Pandya and Arshdeep Singh added to the pressure. Pandya’s catch of Klaasen and David Miller’s catch in Yadav’s last over were crucial moments.
Speaking on Tanmay Bhat’s YouTube channel, Pant recalled Surya’s catch, “When the ball was in the air, everything seemed lost. When it hit the bat, it looked like it was definitely going to be a six. Thanks to the prayers of the Indian fans, the ball did not cross the boundary line.”
Pant also spoke about his aggressive style of play and his relationship with former coach Ravi Shastri and current captain Rohit Sharma.
“I like Bazball when I see it, but when I did it before, I didn’t like it,” Pant said.
“It was an amazing relationship. There was a lot of freedom and understanding with Ravi Bhai. Instead of telling me not to do something, he would give me better options. I believe in that approach. I don’t like it when someone tells me something is impossible. At one point, I was going out to the off-spinners very often. He told me to do something about facing the off-spinners. He told me to start reverse sweeping against the off-spinners,” he recalled.
Pant played a pivotal role in India’s T20 World Cup campaign, becoming India’s third-highest run-scorer and taking 14 offences behind the stumps.
Going forward, Pant will be part of the Indian squad for the Test series against Bangladesh beginning on September 19 in Chennai and the subsequent series, including the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.
The two-match series against Bangladesh will be played in Chennai and Kanpur from September 19 and September 27 respectively.
Indian squad for the first Test against Bangladesh: Rohit Sharma(C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant(WK), Dhruv Jurel(WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah and Yash Dayal.
