Rishabh Pant Awarded Best Fielder Medal In T20 World Cup Clash Against Pakistan

The Indian fielding coach T. Dilip introduced an award—a medal—to honour the best fielder of the team in every match at last year's ODI World Cup and returned with the tradition again in T20 World Cup 2024.

The best fielder medal is given to a player who not only takes splendid catches but also excels in other aspects like executing a run-out, saving runs, or performing glove-work behind the stumps as a wicketkeeper.

The introduction of this award had got the Indian players excited and motivated to win the prize, keeping morale high in the ODI World Cup 2023. The same enthusiasm is expected to continue in the 2024 T20 World Cup as the fielding has been top class except for a few mistakes.

In the India vs Pakistan match, there were several top efforts in the field as Rohit Sharma and Co. pulled off a 6-run win, defending a meagre total of 119 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on Sunday (June 9).

Fielding coach Dilip gave a small speech in the dressing room, congratulating the team on the victory and praised the collective fielding effort of the team. He also highlighted three players for their performance on the field.

Suryakumar Yadav, who took a brilliant low catch at wide first slip to dismiss Babar Azam off Jasprit Bumrah, was the first name mentioned by the fielding coach, followed by wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant and pacer Arshdeep Singh.

While Suryakumar's catch was excellent and Arshdeep's catch to dismiss Iftikhar Ahmed was crucial, it was Rishabh Pant's brilliance behind the stumps, taking a catch to dismiss Fakhar Zaman, that bagged the prize.

Pant received the medal from former head coach Ravi Shastri, who was in New York doing commentary duties for the official broadcaster of the show-piece tournament in USA and the Caribbean.

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All smiles after a special win in New York ????

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BCCI (@BCCI) June 10, 2024