Indian wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant dropped two catches inside ten-minutes on Day 1 of the third Test at SCG between India and Australia, giving debutant Will Pucovski, had all the luck in he needed in his maiden outing in Tests.
Rishabh Pant dropped Will Pucovski twice (on 26 and 32) inside 4 overs but was lucky that the debutant didn’t cash the opportunity well and went on to make a big score.
Australian opener, Will Pucovski, didn’t look much comfortable against veteran off-spinner R Ashwin and edged a good length ball drifting outside off in 22nd over of the innings.
Pucovski played for the turn but the ball kept straight and took a feather off the bat. It was a regulation catch for a wicket-keeper but Rishabh Pant went for it with hard hands and failed to grab it.
Then after four-overs Rishabh Pant got a chance to redeem himself as Pucovski was hurried by a bouncer bowled by Mohammed Siraj and gloved the ball behind the wicket-keeper.
AUS v IND 2020-21: Two dropped catches trigger Pant vs Saha debate on Twitter
Although Rishabh Pant scurried back and leaped high to reach the ball, the ball slipped and the former couldn’t stop it from hitting the ground, gifting 22 years old, Will Pucovski, another life.
Former India wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel said that Pant has to work on his wicket-keeping skills to be able to keep on turning tracks or difficult wickets.
"There are a couple of things he needs to work on if he has to keep in Test cricket on turning wickets or difficult wickets. He has to work on soft hands and he also needs to point his fingers downwards.” Parthiv Patel said on Cricbuzz.
Pointing out the catch Rishabh Pant dropped off Ashwin the former Wicket-keeper batsman said “If you see the catch that was dropped (off Ashwin), his fingers were pointed forward instead down. He has to work on getting his fingers down.
He went at it with a few hard hands. If you observe closely, his hands aren't together, they keep separating. This has happened often and he's also been working on it.” he added.
Rishabh Pant, 23, however, has had developed the habit of dropping easy catches for quite some time now. The two dropped catches of Will Pucovski yet again ignited the Rishabh Pant versus Wriddhiman Saha debate for the Indian Test wicket-keeper.
(Cricbuzz Inputs)
