Rishabh Pant’s inconsistent and concerning T20 batting has continued to add more worries to the Indian team management. The latest to his low scores in the format are the single-digit figures in the two warm-up matches against Western Australia XI at the W.A.C.A. Ground, Perth.
Pant opened the batting in both games. In the first match, he was dismissed for 9 runs off 16 balls, and in the second also the left-hander managed only 9 runs, off 11 balls.
The left-hander once again couldn’t handle the pace and bounce and movement of the W.A.C.A pitch and was dismissed by left-arm lanky seamer Jason Behrendorff, lobbing a catch to fielder Nick Hobson.
Pant’s low score along with his opening partner KL Rahul’s slow approach today left India at 21/1 in 4.5 overs while chasing a stiff target of 169.
Pant, who is unlikely to start in India’s XI against Pakistan on October 23 at the MCG, has ordinary T20I numbers – average of 24 and strike rate of 127 – and his struggles while hitting the balls on the off-side are a cause of reasonable concern for Team India and their fans.
The 25-year-old, who has even been the captain and vice-captain of the T20I side in recent months, has been given a long backing already by the management, which has received plenty of flak and criticism from fans demanding the inclusion of the in-form Sanju Samson. Pant’s left-handedness and his immense talent and potential have kept the management faithful and hopeful.
Today’s low score of 9 in the second warm-up game gave further fuel to the fans.
Netizens trolled Rishabh Pant mercilessly after another failure:
Performance of Indian batters in the Warm-up match:
Rahul – 74(55)
Pant – 9(11)
Hooda – 6(9)
Hardik – 17(9)
Axar – 2(7)
Karthik – 10(14)
Harshal – 2(10)
Ashwin – 2*(4)
Bhuvi – 0(1)— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) October 13, 2022
Rishabh Pant dismissed for 9 in 11 balls against Western Australia.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) October 13, 2022
Samson was in form still they preferred pant 🙃
— ᴩʀᴀᴛɪᴋꜱʜᴀ ᴩᴀɴᴅᴇy (@pratiksha12_) October 13, 2022
Another 100 trial matches?
— Prathisha (@prathi_17_18) October 13, 2022
Players like Shaw and Sanju not getting chances for this man 😌
— Kri (@KrishK74) October 13, 2022
Gabba fraud 😂
— G V (@Gv_twenty2) October 13, 2022
I am here to rule 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/HO0lr66Nvh
— Shahid (@Irfy_Pathan56) October 13, 2022
And still many people thinks Pant and Hooda are better than Sanju 🤦♂️ https://t.co/nEwU6BmKIS
— Pedri Culer (@Spoiltteenager) October 13, 2022
@BCCI please bookna return ticket for @RishabhPant17 he can celebrate Diwali with family in India. He can come back for test series https://t.co/tbBFecm1ae
— Mahesh R. (@MaheshR44026953) October 13, 2022
Urvashi Rautela India laut ja https://t.co/vdBk21tzi9
— Dr.D G (@RetardedHurt) October 13, 2022
He is our Haider ali.usse acha hota Sanju or Kishan Ko le lete be😏 https://t.co/zhi0oR6YIR
— Debasish singh (@Debasis00128879) October 13, 2022
Pant dismissed for 9. Behrendorff picks up the wicket.
Oh, his modest run continues.
— Bharath Ramaraj (@Fancricket12) October 13, 2022
Rishabh Pant To BCCI :#Rishabpant #UrvashiRautela pic.twitter.com/uIMV1jnJnK
— Sahil Gajera (@sahilgajera02) October 9, 2022
Meanwhile, India had won the first warm-up match by 13 runs but lost the second match on Thursday by 36 runs despite KL Rahul’s 74 off 55 balls. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma didn’t bat in today’s practice match.
