Twitterati roasts Rishabh Pant after his sloppy glove-work in Mohali

Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant came under heavy backlash in the fourth ODI against Australia in Mohali on Sunday after he missed a series of chances to dismiss the opponent batsmen as the Kangaroos went on to successfully chase down a target of 350-plus. The 21-year-old, who played in just three ODIs before this match, was picked ahead of the experienced Dinesh Karthik in the series to show his potential and secure a birth in India’s World Cup squad. Pant came into the side in place of MS Dhoni who was rested.

Pant, who kept wickets in the ODIs for the first time in Mohali, scored 36 runs off 24 balls as India scored 358 for 9 in 50 overs after captain Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat. He was playing in his first game of the series but fumbled at key moments that allowed the visiting team to gain an upper hand. Pant was roasted by Twitterati which wanted the return of MS Dhoni and Karthik.

While the Indian keeper missed a catch off the bowling of Yuzvendra Chahal, he also missed two stumping chances off the bowling of Kuldeep Yadav. In one of the misses, Pant also tried to pull off a Dhoni-style dismissal by not looking at the stumps but failed to hit the stumps, even conceding a single to the Aussie batsmen. The spectators in Mohali chanted ‘Dhoni, Dhoni’ while Kohli was visibly upset.

Pant missed to stump centurion Handscomb

Among the batsmen who were let off by Pant was Peter Handscomb who scored 117 off 105 deliveries to keep Australia in the hunt of the mammoth target. However, it was Ashton Turner’s unbeaten 43-ball-84 (his first international fifty) that saw Australia giving the final touches to the memorable chase and they overhauled the target with over two overs to spare.

When asked about India’s failed stumping chances in the post-match presentation, Kohli said: “Crucial (about the stumping chance), we were sloppy in the field and should’ve grabbed our chances.”

Karthik’s omission from the squad for India’s final international series before the WC was seen by many as his ouster from the final squad that will play the WC. However, after Pant’s debacle on Sunday, the veteran wicket-keeper-batsman could be back into the reckoning.

Here are some of the reactions the Twitterati came up with:

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