"I had to outfox him, be little one up...": Hardik opens on his planning against Klaasen in T20 WC triumph

New Delhi [India], February 7 : Hardik Pandya took a trip down memory lane to his match-winning spell against South Africa in the 2024 final in Barbados that played a decisive role in India ending their 17-year-long ICC T20 World Cup trophy hiatus.
The 31-year-old all-rounder said how he planned to bowl wide from Klaasen, who was taking his team home, and keep the delivery slow to outfox the Proteas batter.
India and South Africa stormed into the final, unbeaten, to fight for the coveted title. With a classic Virat Kohli in the first innings, India managed to put 176/7 on the board.
In reply, with his sheer power hitting, Heinrich Klaasen singlehandedly swung the momentum in South Africa's favour. While facing India's crafty spinners, Klaasen muscled the ball away past the boundary rope according to his will and brought the equation down to 26 needed in 24 balls.
India needed a miracle, a moment that could reignite the hope of lifting the title after the dust settled. The much-needed spark came from Pandya in the 16th over, who went wide to draw an edge from Klaasen and change the destiny of both sides.
"There was not much spoken. Ro (Rohit Sharma) and I have played for so many years. He knows what character I am, what personality I am and how much I value cricket awareness. So, just before the ball, I just told him that I was going to go wide to Klaasen. I just knew he was going to expect a ball which is on the stumps," Pandya said in a video posted by the ICC.
In a bid to outfox Klaasen, Pandya took the gamble of going wide with a slower delivery without making any adjustments to the field. Pandya's trick worked wonders as Klaasen fell straight into the trap.
"His leg was a little leg side, so I knew he was going to try to hit me there, and that's when just before my run-up, I just looked at him and said I am going to go slow because I didn't set a field for the slower ball. I had to outfox him, I had to be a little one up in the game that at least he was not aware of what the ball was coming because the way he was hitting it was tremendous, so that happened, and I think that just opened the door for us," he added.
The job wasn't done for India as there was still work left to do. Pandya needed to defend 16 in the final over, and that too against established finisher David Miller, who appeared to be undaunted by the situation.
Pandya noticed the wind blowing towards the dressing room and decided to force Miller to play against the breeze. He went for a wide yorker, and Miller took a full swing only to see Suryakumar Yadav take a catch for the ages and seal India's glory in the final.
"In Barbados, there was a very hard breeze going around to the dressing room side. So if he wants to drag me, he'll have to drag me or hit me against the wind. There are more chances of him missing it than that. My strength would be a stump Yorker. But we went outside off stump for a specific reason if you want to hit us, hit against the odds. Not where you're more favourable. And I think that is more situational awareness and more knowing your strength. And I think that was the reason we were calm and composed with our plans," he said.
"Ro and I spoke after the game as well. When the ball went in the air, it looked like it would be just landing at 30 yards or a fielder would have to come inside and all. But I think the wind actually took it. It was not that much steady. It actually came inside this thing. So it carried forward. Obviously, that's when the emotions were quite up and down because first, it felt like, oh, it's just up. But then we see that the ball is going, going. It's not stopping. Obviously, then what Surya did at that point of time with that much presence of mind, calmness, you know, it was just sheer, sheer brilliance," he added.
The T20 World Cup drought for India finally ended, and emotions took over Rohit Sharma and his troops. For Pandya, it was a moment of pressure coming off his shoulders.
"It was a dream which actually came true. You know, from my shoulder, a big weight was kind of off. I think it was just a relief of six, seven, eight months, which I had prior to that. I was really proud. The way I was able to stand, you know, and maybe not show a lot of emotions or how I have been going through. It just came off, the pressure of shoulder carrying such weights just came off, and I was like, yeah, finally I did it for the country," he concluded.