Rishabh Pant Reflects on "Second Chance" After T20 World Cup Win; Recalls Injury Acting

One year after India's momentous T20 World Cup final victory against South Africa in Barbados, Rishabh Pant shared an emotional message reflecting on overcoming adversity.

Rishabh Pant's emotional Instagram post.

"Not many know what it feels like to be chosen twice — once by life, once by death," Pant posted on his Instagram story.

Returning to the Indian team after a 14-month absence due to a road accident, Pant scored a duck in the final.

Despite this, Pant played a crucial role in halting play when South Africa required 26 runs from four overs with six wickets in hand, signaling concerns about his injured knee.

Pant explained his thought process to Star Sports: "I was actually thinking what to do because the momentum had suddenly shifted (in South Africa’s favour)... I was thinking when that moment would come when we would win the World Cup final."

He added, “I was asking the physio to take time. When Rohit bhai asked if my knee was fine, I said, ‘Bhaiya, bas acting kar raha tha‘ (I was acting all this while). Sometimes you have to do these types of things in matches. I’m not saying it works every time, but it does work sometimes, and if it works at that kind of moment, then nothing like it.”

Meanwhile, India's victorious captain Rohit Sharma believed Pant was genuinely injured.

Rishabh Pant preparing for a Test match.

"I genuinely thought that something had happened to him. After the accident he had, I thought he was just trying to… But actually, it was just to stop the game a little bit,” Rohit revealed to Star Sports.