Rishabh pant at number 3 has been a revelation for India in the T20 World Cup. Playing his first tournament for India in 18 months, Pant has found his magic in a position that, for years, belonged to Virat Kohli. But with India partnering Kohli with their captain Rohit Sharma as opener, Pant has taken the third spot by surprise. While his tally of 152 runs in five innings may not be the most astonishing figure, his strike rate of 135.7 has been crucial for India. Every time Rohit or Kohli have fallen cheaply, Pant has taken the bull by the horns and fired from all sides. Most of them have worked, some haven’t, but that’s what Rishabh Pant brings to the table.
Pant has looked like a million bucks every time he has started his innings, including 20 against Afghanistan and 36 against Bangladesh. Surprisingly, however, in both matches he died playing the same shot – the reverse sweep, which has brought Pant many successes. Against Afghanistan, Pant was out LBW off Rashid Khan, while in the game against Bangladesh, he reverse-swept the ball towards the third-man short fielder. The dismissal came at a crucial time during India’s innings. Both Kohli and Rohit were back on the bench, while Suryakumar Yadav was also trapped behind. Pant’s dismissal left India at 108/4 with 8 overs remaining.
Pant’s wicket left many people disappointed, but apparently no one more than Kohli, who was visibly upset at his teammate’s dismissal. Soon after Pant came out, Kohli, sitting next to Rohit on the bench, could be seen discussing something with his captain with lots of hand gestures. While no one can guarantee exactly what they were talking about, the body language could have a lot to do with Pant. Even the commentators felt the same.
What the commentators felt
“If you make the same mistake twice, right now it’s fine, but in big games you may have problems because big teams don’t let these opportunities slip away,” Piyush Chawla said. “Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli agree on that. Because they know what Pant is capable of.”
The episode didn’t end there. Kohli then approached Pant and had a brief chat with him. Going by Kohli’s intense gestures, it was very clear that he was not happy with the way Pant came out and possibly spoke to him about how he could have been a little more careful. Kohli also had a distraught expression the moment Pant found Tanzim Hasan bowling to Rishad Hossain.
“You could see Kohli talking to him now. He was playing very well, Rishabh. Was there a need to play a shot like that in that situation?” Deep Dasgupta said on air. Fellow commentator Sanjay Manjrekar then joined in: “If you noticed Virat Kohli’s reaction… when Rishabh Pant came out, Kohli didn’t know the camera was on him. He immediately reacted and then hid his face with a towel. The way he While fans might have reacted to his dismissal, Kohli did the same.
