Hardik Pandya reveals Rohit Sharma’s master plan to dismiss Klaasen in T20 WC final
India all-rounder Hardik Pandya recently spoke about captain Rohit Sharma’s master plan to dismiss Heinrich Klaasen in the final of the T20 World Cup 2024.
Klaasen was at his aggressive best during the summit clash as he took Indian spinners to the cleaners and played a sensational knock of 52 (27) with the help of two fours and five sixes.
Klassen threatened to take the game away from India with South Africa requiring just 26 runs to win from 24 balls. However, Pandya managed to dismiss him on the first ball of the 17th over which helped India get a tiny opening back into the game. Recalling the dismissal, Pandya revealed his discussions with Rohit before bowling the wicket-taking delivery.
He said that the India skipper had advised him to bowl a widish delivery as Klaasen was ready to hit anything aimed at the stumps. However, he also decided to bowl the slower ball to deceive the Proteas batter, which eventually worked for him.
“Rohit Sharma and I have been playing together for so many years. He knows my personality and how much importance I give to awareness in cricket. So, just before the ball, Rohit told me to bowl a wide ball to Klaasen. I also knew that he would be expecting the ball on the stumps. His foot was slightly on the leg side, so I knew he would try to hit me there. Just before my run-up, I looked at him and told myself that I would bowl a slower ball because we hadn’t set the field that way. I wanted to deceive him. The way he was hitting the ball was fantastic, and Klaasen’s wicket opened the way for our victory,” Pandya told ICC.
Klaasen tried to whack Pandya’s widish delivery over deep extra cover but could only edge it to wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant behind the stumps. In the very next over, Bumrah shattered Marco Jansen’s stumps to further bring India back into the game. Pandya was also entrusted to bowl the last over as South Africa required 16 runs to win.
The seam all-rounder managed to get another prized scalp of David Miller courtesy of a sensational catch by Suryakumar Yadav at long off. As a result, India eventually won the match by seven runs and clinched their second T20 World Cup title ending their 11-year-long drought for an ICC Trophy.