Twitterati hit out at Rishabh Pant for his poor wicketkeeping skills during the SCG Test
Pant gave two lifelines to Will Pucovski, who would go on to notch a half-century on debut.
Rishabh Pant made an impressive start to India’s first-class campaign on Australian soil. In the day-night warm-up game against Australia A at the SCG, he scored a masterful century. However, he didn’t get a chance in the eleven during the opening Test at the Adelaide Oval. Rather, Wriddhiman Saha was preferred. His omission raised a lot of eyebrows as he was in decent enough form.
In the second MCG Test, Pant made his way into the eleven and played a quickfire knock before perishing. Though he didn’t score big, his efforts gave India the momentum they needed. It didn’t spring a surprise that he was persisted with in the playing eleven during the third Test as well. But Pant hasn’t had the best of times in the ongoing match at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Rishabh Pant under pressure
He has already dropped two catches in the first innings, giving Will Pucovski lifelines on the latter’s debut in international cricket. In the last ball of the 22nd over of the opening day’s play, Pant couldn’t hold on to a sharp chance off Ravi Ashwin’s bowling. Ashwin’s good-length delivery kept straight and took Pucovski’s outside edge. But to India’s dismay, Pant dropped the catch.
Then three overs later, he dropped an even easier chance, this time off fast bowler Mohammed Siraj. In the last ball of the 26th over, Pucovski mistimed a pull shot off a bouncer and got a glove. Pant leapt and caught hold of the ball, but it went to ground on the second attempt.
The soft signal on the field was ‘out’, but it had to be reversed. Pucovski went on to score a half-century on debut. The dropped chances didn’t overly cost India as another debutant Navdeep Saini accounted for his wicket in the 35th over. Pucovski ended with a 110-ball 62.
In the meantime, Twitterati aren’t happy with Pant by any stretch of the imagination. The users on the social media platform lashed out at the youngster for his keeping skills, which hasn’t been all that great in the ongoing Test. Even in the past, Pant had to face the wrath of the netizens for his keeping.
Here’s how the netizens reacted: –
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