IND vs SA, T20 World Cup Final: How a Rishabh Pant Knee Injury become the Turning Point for India?

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The feeling mustn't have sunk in the Indian team as the gladiators of Indian cricket emerged victorious on a sunny Bridgetown afternoon in Barbados at the expense of South Africa in the T20 World Cup final.

With repeated World Cup final heartbreaks, it was a moment of redemption for Rohit Sharma and his team, who came back from the ruins to dismantle South Africa.

Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh gave India a good start after their 176 runs with the bat, but Quinton de Kock and Heinrich Klaasen almost took it away. The latter scored a half-century off just 26 balls and was looking ominous.

With just 26 runs required in the last four overs, the Proteas were heading towards the light while India's fate was rapidly staring down the dark memories of Ahmedabad a few months ago.

But the first ball of the 17th over brought about Heinrich Klaasen's wicket as he edged one to Rishabh Pant. From then on, catastrophe struck as the Proteas couldn't get out of the pressure and managed only 10 runs in the next three overs. With 16 required in the last over, David Miller got out in the very first ball as Suryakumar Yadav completed a scintillating catch. Hardik Pandya, who bowled the last over, then kept his cool and stopped the Proteas 7 runs from their target.

T20 World Cup 2024 Final: What was the Turning Point for India?

Although it was a fantastic bowling performance which brought India's miraculous comeback in this match, there was an incident which happened between the conclusion of the 16th over and the first ball of the 17th over, involving Rishabh Pant.

How did Rishabh Pant's injury turn the match in India's favour?

Rishabh Pant was supposedly injured in between the overs as the wicketkeeper had some issue with his right knee. The player was down on the grass and the medical team arrived to check on his knee. They bandaged the troubling part and after a few minutes, the match resumed. South Africa, who were going all guns blazing, had to withstand those extra minutes and their momentum completely broke. In the first ball after the resumption, Klaasen swung but his feet didn't move, and the edge found the grateful gloves of Rishabh Pant. The rest is history..