AUS vs IND 2024-25 - Explained: Travis Head's strange 'finger in fist' celebration after dismissing Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant played against his nature for the majority part of Day 5 of the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground. In the first innings, the keeper-batter departed while playing a reverse scoop and that invited plenty of criticism, especially from former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, who was livid to see Pant attempt such a shot at a tricky time. It seemed that the 27-year-old learned from his mistake in the second innings as he did not play any rash shots and decided to leave the majority of the balls.

Everything was going well for him and his partnership with Yashasvi Jaiswal was looking strong as India were eyeing to save the Test. But that is when Pant lost his concentration and decided to clear the distance as he attempted to pull Travis Head. Eventually, Pant failed to get under the ball and time it and it resulted in the ball going wide to the mid-on where Mitchell Marsh picked a brilliant catch as Pant departed for 30 runs off 104 balls. 

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Meanwhile, Head celebrated in a unique manner after breaking the partnership as the all-rounder pointed his finger into a circle made with his other hand, which created a buzz in the cricket world. Some labelled it as an obscene gesture. Amid the discussion, Channel 7commentator James Brayshaw explained that after taking 4/10 in 2022 against Sri Lanka, Head had joked about needing to "put the digit on ice" and the celebration was in memory of that.

Pant’s dismissal was the start of a collapse as India went from 121/3 to 155 all-out. Almost, immediately after Pant's dismissal, Scott Boland got the better of Ravindra Jadeja while Nathan Lyon picked up the wicket of first-innings centurion Nitish Kumar Reddy to go into India's tail. Notably, the visitors had not lost a single wicket in the second session but collapse after Tea was enough for them to lose the game by 184 runs and go 1-2 down. 

India didn’t lose a single wicket in the second session but three lost quick wickets after Tea, which eventually shifted the momentum back to Australia. Soon after that, Yashasvi Jaiswal too played a shot which wasn’t required and he departed for 84 runs. With that, Australia can smell of victory, which will help them take 2-1 lead in the series.