'Where's hotspot?' - AB de Villiers gives his take on Rishabh Pant’s controversial dismissal

The Indian team lost the third and final Test against New Zealand in Mumbai by 25 runs on November 3. Looking to chase down a target of 147 runs, the hosts found themselves in a precarious position as India’s batting crumbled under pressure. 

Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal departed early, while Sarfaraz Khan, Shubman Gill, and Virat Kohli scored just one run each. Rishabh Pant was the only highlight of the day for India with his attacking knock of 64 off 57.

However, Pant was dismissed in a controversial manner, which crushed team India’s hopes. Hoping to defend the ball coming down the track, the ball hit Pant’s pads and landed straight into the hands of Tom Blundell. With a review being taken, Pant argued with the match official that the Ultra Edge spiked due to his bat hitting the pad and not the bat hitting the ball, but the argument was to no avail as Pant walked back to the pavilion. 

Speaking of the same, former South Africa cricketer AB de Villiers gave his take on the dismissal on X (formerly known as Twitter).

“Controversy! Little grey area once again. Did Pant get bat on that or not? Problem is when the ball passes the bat at exactly the same time a batter hits his pad snicko will pick up the noise. But how sure are we he hit it? I’ve always worried about this, and here it happens at a huge moment in a big Test match. Where’s hotspot?!” de Villiers posted. 

Pant’s dismissal brought forth a big collapse for team India as none of the other batters could add much. Eventually, India loat by 25 runs to lose the series 3-0.