Watch: Ravi Shastri, Wasim Akram get into hilarious discussion after Rishabh Pant takes blow on lower abdomen

India and Australia are battling it out at the Optus Stadium in Perth in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. India won the toss and opted to bat first on a pitch which had 10 mm of grass left on it to provide ample bounce. Indian batters struggled as wickets fell at regular intervals and the bounce troubled the tourists big time. 

On one such occasion, India’s wicketkeeper-batter, Rishabh Pant was batting in the middle. He was dealt with a sharp delivery that shot up after pitching and struck his lower abdomen area. Former India cricketer and coach Ravi Shastri, who was in the commentary panel along with former Pakistan pacer Wasim Akram, described the plight of the batter after getting hit in that region along with narrating an anecdote from his playing days. 

Here’s Shastri’s conversation with Akram:

We played a Test match here in 2018 so we know what to expect: Jasprit Bumrah

Speaking of the Indian innings, they failed to breach the 200-run mark and were bundled out for 150 runs. For the visitors, debutant Nitish Kumar Reddy was the highest scorer with 41 runs followed by Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul, as they scored 37 and 26 respectively. India’s stand-in captain, Jasprit Bumrah expected the wicket to get quicker as the match goes on while Australia captain, Pat Cummins said he was unsure anyway.

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“We are going to bat first, looks like a good wicket. Very confident with our preparation. We played a Test match here in 2018 so we know what to expect. The wicket gets quicker. Nitish makes his debut. We have 4 quicks and Washi is the lone spinner,” said Bumrah at the toss.

“We were 50-50, either way we are pretty happy. Feel well placed, pretty fresh. Any format we (India-Australia) play seems fiercely fought. Nathan McSweeney makes our debut at the top of the order,” Cummins said.