Rishabh Pant endured a 23-ball struggle for 17 in the third India-South Africa T20I in Rajkot on Friday, June 17.
Rishabh Pant copped criticism for a rather sluggish 17 off 23 in the fourth T20I against South Africa in Rajkot on Friday, June 17. Luck hasn’t been on Pant’s side in terms of the coin toss, and India were put in to bat by Temba Bavuma for the fourth straight time in the series.
Lungi Ngidi and Marco Jansen showcased their brilliance with the new ball first up, accounting for Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shreyas Iyer respectively by the end of the third over. Pant joined an in-form Ishan Kishan at the crease, but the latter’s dismissal to Anrich Nortje not long after left India struggling at 40/3 in the seventh over.
Hardik Pandya joined the keeper-batter for a 41-run third-wicket stand, and the left-hander failed to get any flow to his innings in amust-win game, managing just two fours during his stay. He was dropped by Keshav Maharaj off Tabraiz Shamsi while attempting a reverse sweep when on 15, before the latter got him in the very next over.
Maharaj tossed one wide outside off, and Pant went hard with a wild slash, only to find a thick outside edge through to Dwaine Pretorius at short third-man. It wasn’t the first time that Pant was undone by that ploy from Maharaj in this series. He had hit a similar ball to sweeper cover to fall for a 7-ball 5 in the second T20I in Cuttack.
A tremendous onslaught of 73 runs in the final five overs ensured India finished stromgly at 169/6. Hardik scored 46 off 31, but the wrecker-in-chief turned out to be Dinesh Karthik, who got to his maiden T20I fifty in his 36th game. The right-hander struck nine fours and two sixes, before falling to Dwaine Pretorius in the final over for a 27-ball 55.
Here are some reactions to Pant’s knock:
#Pant is so destructive in Test but same kind of display is missing in T20. Why? #INDvSA #SAvsIND #Cricket
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) June 17, 2022
Why is #RishabhPant in the team? 🤔 #INDvSA
— Bee.Positive ⭕️ (@BhavikK11) June 17, 2022
The horrible and disastrous batting performance by #RishabhPant in T20Is continues.
So far:
41 innings
740 runs
23.12 avg
124.16 SR
3 fifties
31 sixes#IndvsSA #INDvSA #BCCI #CricketTwitter #cricket #RishabhPant #IndianCricketTeam— Ravi Dubey (@itzravidubey) June 17, 2022
Pant should be dropped for the World Cup. #indsa #RishabhPant
— Vedaant Aggarwal (@vedaantagg) June 17, 2022
So many dismissals outside off stump ball#INDvSA #RishabhPant https://t.co/PbXwR2X67y pic.twitter.com/4EZiEx5eok
— All About Cricket (@AllAboutCricke8) June 17, 2022
@RishabhPant17 is the worst wk batsman India have ever produced. I don’t know why they are backing him. No plan no patience no game no footwork not even a good learner 4 matches out in a same manner.
Worst ever @RishabhPant17 .— Sarcastic Shashank (@SarcasticShash1) June 17, 2022
Rishabh Pant is confused which match is T20 and which one is test.#INDvsSA
— rohan (@rohan_csk) June 17, 2022
This was Rishabh Pant’s 7th dismissal against left arm orthodox in T20Is.
His avg against left arm orthodox now stands at 6.85 in T20Is. 😐#INDvsSA
— S.S. (@SHIVAMS56954839) June 17, 2022
@RishabhPant17 is not a T20 player. Never seen more ugly batsmanship.
Kick him out. So many better players not even in squad.#INDvsSA
— Aditya Sharma (@kafironkakaafir) June 17, 2022
I wonder if @Wriddhipops was given so many top drawer opportunities like @RishabhPant17 has got in white ball cricket, #Wriddhi would have been far more useful wk-bat than #RishabhPant can ever imagine!! Rishabh should be kicked out from white ball cricket forever!
— Arka D (@weird_shitt) June 17, 2022
Just bowl a wide one & Pant will shit on it. So easy. Horror series.
— arfan (@Im__Arfan) June 17, 2022
Uses T20 approach in tests(where the field isn’t spread)&comes out successful,hence creates an impression that he is an excellent T20 player too -HE IS NOT
Rishabh Pant averages 23 at a strike rate of 124. Probably the worst t20 numbers for someone who played 47 t20is #SAvsIND pic.twitter.com/8jBeII3WDn
— Anurag (@RightGaps) June 17, 2022
Give him 45-50 chances more to prove himself in T20is 🤡😔😔#RishabhPant #INDvsSA pic.twitter.com/oh2JMVgKuk
— Priyanshu¹⁸ 🇮🇳 (@Priyanshuinnn) June 17, 2022
Rishabh Pant has been playing since ages.
He has to be given rest after the England test match. It seems like this failure is all because of him playing continuously.
— #ForeverVirat (@HailKingKohli) June 17, 2022
