BCCI clears speculations over Rishabh Pant's comment caught on stump mic

India and Delhi Capitals’ up-and-coming wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant has been caught amidst a controversy owing to a clip doing the rounds on social media. The clip, which has been edited from the stump microphone from Delhi Capitals’ match last evening against the Kolkata Knight Riders. However, the apparent malice which was being suspected from the clip has been dismissed by the BCCI, who expressed disappointment as the clip an incomplete segment of the real footage was circulated and read into out of context.

The match itself was a humdinger, going all the way to the Super Over as both teams remained tied on 185. Kolkata Knight Riders, batting first, suffered a top-order slump before a rejuvenation from big-hitting Andre Russell (62 off 28) and skipper Dinesh Karthik (50 off 36) to take KKR to a good total. However, Delhi rode on a brilliant 55-ball 99 from Prithvi Shaw to be in firm control of the chase, though the KKR bowlers pegged back, in the end, to take the match to the Super Over.

It proved futile in the end, as Kagiso Rabada’s disciplined yorkers ensured KKR were unable to chase the target of 11. However, a voice clip less than a minute long of an instance early in the KKR innings brought Pant into controversy. The clip shows the keeper Pant stating that “yeh to chauka hai” (this is a boundary) as Robin Uthappa faced Sandeep Lamichhane. True to Pant’s words, the next delivery was indeed pushed through the covers for four.

The footage of the incident has been removed by Hotstar

Soon after, the clip started doing the rounds on Twitter amidst cries of suspected foul play. However, BCCI dismissed those rumors. “No one heard what Rishabh said before that particular sentence. He was apparently telling (Delhi Capitals captain) Shreyas Iyer to increase fielders on off-side to stop an imminent four,” a top BCCI official was quoted as saying by Sportstar.

The official also expressed his disappointment, saying, “Maligning a young cricketer without even knowing the details is so unfortunate. A section of media allowed the social media to insinuate and vilify a young talent without getting into details..is so disgusting”.

Meanwhile, Hotstar, which holds the streaming rights of the IPL is getting the clippings removed from social media due to illegal use of the footage.

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