While his bat has remained silent in recent matches, Rishabh Pant invited more flak and trolling upon himself with a fiery statement in an interview with Harsha Bhogle.
Pant has had a horror tour of New Zealand. In 5 innings, he registered scores of 6 and 11 in the T20Is and 15 and 10 in the ODI series. He followed it up from low scores of 3 and 6 in the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.
Ahead of the start of the 3rd ODI, a must-win for India to level the series, Rishabh Pant was present for a brief interview with commentator Harsha Bhogle. Bhogle queried Pant on different topics about the constant rain on this New Zealand tour, and premeditations of shots in Tests, ODIs, and T20Is.
When Bhogle touched upon Pant’s numbers on white-ball cricket, the vice-captain of the tour snapped back saying that his numbers aren’t bad in limited-overs internationals, adding that he shouldn’t be compared with anyone because he is only 25 years old, suggesting Bhogle and the experts reserve comparisons when he has played for a long time and is in his 30s.
“The record is just a number. My white-ball numbers are not that bad. Comparison does not make sense right now, I am just 24-25 years age of age. If you want to do the comparison, you can maybe do it when I am 30-32. Before that, the comparison does not make sense to me,” Pant said.
You can watch the clip of Rishabh Pant’s interview that has gone viral here:
attitude toh aise de raha hai jaise lapodinagar ka MLA ho pic.twitter.com/wKYPf6OwmE
— Arun Lol (@dhaikilokatweet) November 30, 2022
Fans were furious with Rishabh Pant for this statement. Netizens lambasted and trolled the left-hander for this. Here are some of the reactions:
Ek lappad maaro isko lavdya
— The Curry Muncher (@Paprikaashh) November 30, 2022
When Harsh bhogle said your white ball cricket record is not so promising.
Rishab Pant#INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/BhKPYcLTXd— Abhishek Kumar (@iamabhishekk005) November 30, 2022
afridi jaise
— Arun Lol (@dhaikilokatweet) November 30, 2022
Naam pant hai lekin jis hisab se phoola ja raha hai isko bas dhoti ayegi kuch din me
— UmderTamker (@jhampakjhum) November 30, 2022
Bhai ko lagta hei iss tarah khel ke ye 30-32 ka age takk Indian team mei rahega!
— Abhijith N S (@Abhijithshet7) November 30, 2022
But why we need this chaapari when we have Sanju Samson
— 💤💤 (@fk_apocalypse) November 30, 2022
ICT Fans to Pant after watching this video pic.twitter.com/CIBlykMYkd
— RobinWood (@NowExplorit) November 30, 2022
Grace nahi hai. bol deta ki I am trying my best, I will work on my mistakes.
— Tapas (@tapasgiri93) November 30, 2022
isko koi samjhao jo iske halaat hai 32 tak toh retire ho jayega yeh fir kaise comparision karenge
— Digvijaay Sharrma (@digvijaay46) November 30, 2022
logic aur pant bhai ke kuch lena dena nahi hai.. 😂😂😂
— Arjun Kumar (@ArjunKaLakshya) November 30, 2022
Attitude toh aise dikha rha hai jaise virat kohli hai 24-25 wala
— छोले भटूरे (@_definitelyN0t) November 30, 2022
He should reduce weight or else he will look like Inzamam ul haq in future.
— Arvind Atreya (@atreya_arvind) November 30, 2022
Are dada… pic.twitter.com/WCGDkcfcQC
— Potterhead 🧹🇮🇳 (@form_of_Sun) November 30, 2022
Itna ghamand aa kha se rha hai aajkal ke players me?😡
— रायSAAB (@RaiManish78) November 30, 2022
Iss L logon ka IPL ke paise dimag kharab ho gya hai… international matches khelne nhi aiyashi karne jaate hain
— K (@chauhan_kishan_) November 30, 2022
Ghamand … Le doobega re tujhko… #NZvsIND https://t.co/K0csdpfCHe
— GameOver (@aslihitmonkey) November 30, 2022
Achitude from Lord Pant https://t.co/4YRTWC39W1
— JoeCricket_ (@Joecricket_) November 30, 2022
Rishabh Pant the man who achieved nothing but has an ego of a world beater. https://t.co/fx7OxNl7kY
— Satoru Gojo (@AshishAFC) November 30, 2022
Itna arrogance. Drop him for 2 years https://t.co/1uQpNTQasi
— Shardul Thakur 🗨️ (@asliwiseman) November 30, 2022
Rishabh Pant managed only 10 runs in 3rd ODI
Pant came into bat in the 14th over of India’s innings at number 4, after both the openers, Shubman Gill and Shikhar Dhawan, were dismissed. On just the second ball he faced, Rishabh Pant whacked fast bowler Lockie Ferguson for a boundary after charging him down and flicking over mid-wicket. He also hit a short-arm jab to a back-of-a-length delivery that was outside the off-stump from Adam Milne and it raced away for a boundary.
He was looking good until a moment of lapse in concentration and not properly executing his shot did him for the innings. Daryl Mitchell, the extra seam-bowling option Kane Williamson deployed, banged it in short and Pant went for the pull shot. However, he couldn’t get on top of the bounce and mistimed it to deep square leg where Glenn Phillips ran in and dove forward to take a good catch and end Pant’s stay in the middle. The 25-year-old walked back dejectedly after yet another failure.
India, meanwhile, were bowled out for 219 in the 3rd ODI which they have to win to level the series. Daryl Mitchell and Adam Milne shared 3 wickets each while Washington Sundar (51) and Shreyas Iyer (49) were India’s top scorers.
