10 Posts That Suggest Indian Cricket Team Fans Are Missing Rishabh Pant Very Badly: After being questioned for his place by media and fans, senior Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon brought out his best on Day 2 of the Indore Test against India in the 3rd Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Hailed as the GOAT, Nathan Lyon returned with stunning figures of 8/64 in India’s second innings, bowling the hosts out for 163, which meant India had a lead of 75 runs.
Australia have been set a target of 76 runs, chasing down which will not only keep their hopes of drawing the series alive, but, more importantly, seal their place in the WTC final.
Lyon’s biggest scalp of the day was his and Australia’s giant nemesis – Cheteshwar Pujara, who once again played a gritty knock against his favorite opponent, scoring 59 runs in 142 balls.
However, another big nemesis of Lyon who isn’t in this series and the fans missed him dearly was Rishabh Pant. The left-hander’s heroics against Nathan Lyon over the last two tours in Australia, and his counter-attacking knocks in the last couple of years that have bailed Team India out of trouble regularly were most missed by the team and the fans in this game.
Rishabh Pant is currently out of action due to the knee injuries he suffered in his life-threatening accident in December. The 25-year-old wicket-keeper batsman is ruled out for most of the 2023.
Pant’s duels with Lyon, especially from the India’s last tour of Australia where Pant played memorable knocks in Sydney and Brisbane, helping India to a historic series win, left this series a bit bereft of an exciting batsman vs bowler contest.
As Lyon dismissed Indian batters one by one, the Indian fans remembered Rishabh Pant:
It's been a long day without you, my friend
And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again…Majar missing Rishabh Pant 😟 pic.twitter.com/CinJWzyOfB
— Utsav 💙 (@utsav__45) March 2, 2023
Koi puchhe toh keh dena
Ek tha jo aisa khel deta tha
Test ko t20 samajh ke pel deta tha pic.twitter.com/SOysfEZnrV— Sagar (@sagarcasm) March 2, 2023
If someone is challenging you like Shane Warne,then accept it like Rishabh Pant ❤️🐐#RishabhPant #MissingRishabhPant#Pant #Spidy pic.twitter.com/w6az5Zsdl3
— HAWK (Rishabh Pant FC) (@THEHAWK02395631) March 2, 2023
https://twitter.com/NiteshP39367740/status/1631261440702029824?s=20
There were some hilarious memes as well on the Rishabh Pant vs Nathan Lyon story:
https://twitter.com/NiteshP39367740/status/1631261440702029824?s=20
Rishabh Pant watching Nathan Lyon take 8 wickets against India pic.twitter.com/I6OuVdMDAg
— Gagan🇮🇳 (@1no_aalsi_) March 2, 2023
No one
Rishabh Pant#INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/TMZ1IFxZeX— DJAY (@djaywalebabu) March 2, 2023
https://twitter.com/DuckInCricket/status/1631268890109157378?s=20
Dont worry ICT fans, jab Rishabh Pant wapas aayega sab thik kardega😔🥺😕
— Joecricket_ (@Joecricket_) March 2, 2023
Rishabh Pant watching Nathan Lyon bowl pic.twitter.com/KZzFMs8xnV
— soo washed (@anubhav__tweets) March 2, 2023
Rishabh Pant After Knowing That Takla Nathan Lyon Took 5 Wickets Against India :-#INDvsAUSTest pic.twitter.com/WU9TyuOVjU
— Sir BoiesX (@BoiesX45) March 2, 2023
Rishabh Pant after watching Indian batsmen struggling against spin https://t.co/GrcWHXenoH
— Ankit Pathak 🇮🇳 (@ankit_acerbic) March 1, 2023
Rishabh Pant after watching Lyon taking 7 wckts in an innings pic.twitter.com/chC4FlFL23
— Aparna (@AppeFizzz) March 2, 2023
https://twitter.com/smileandraja/status/1626839214280015873?s=20
Rishabh Pant watching Nathan Lyon taking wickets pic.twitter.com/6tUfUn3KhF
— Gagan🇮🇳 (@1no_aalsi_) February 18, 2023
Indian team struggling against Lyon..
Rishabh Pant :https://t.co/sWhhZMCYvL
— El Niño 🇮🇳 (@suppandiiii) February 18, 2023
Australia started Day 2 in Indore at 156/4. Handscomb and Green scored 30 runs in the first hour and it looked like they will help Australia to a massive lead, but once R Ashwin dismissed Handscomb, Australia collapsed from 186/4 to 197 all-out. Ashwin and Umesh Yadav both took 3 wickets each but Australia’s lead of 88 runs was already big.
By the time India in the second innings got their first runs in the lead, they had already lost 4 wickets.
Pujara fought hard and Shreyas Iyer played a short, countert-attacking came of 26 runs in 27 balls but rest nobody else could cross 20 and India folded for 163, giving Australia the target of 76 runs.
Barring something extraordinary – such as India’s 36 all-out collapse – Australia are looking set to make the scoreline 2-1 in the first session of Day 3.
