India’s wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant has been copping quite a lot of flak for his skills with the gloves. He is often compared to MS Dhoni, who he has replaced in the Indian team and was even dropped from the team due to his glovework last year.
However, Pant came back into the team against the Australia Test series down under on the weightage of his batting alone and has improved behind the stumps as well. He made amazing scores of 97 and 89* against Australia in Sydney and Brisbane, helping India win the series 2-1.
Against England in the ongoing Test series at home as well, Rishabh Pant slammed 97 in the first Test match and looked good for a century, before getting out to Dom Bess. In the second Test as well he made 58* and took the Indian team past the 300-run mark, as India ended 1st innings on 329 runs.
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However, his biggest examination came against the Indian spinners, who bowled on the Chepauk track that was turning square. Ashwin and Akshar Patel got the ball to turn from the length and Pant kept beautifully.
However, his best moment came while keeping wickets to Mohammed Siraj, as the Hyderabadi bowler got a settled looking Ollie Pope to edge a ball down the leg side. Rishabh Pant, known for his athleticism dived to catch the ball one-handed. Though the ball popped out of his hands, Pant made sure that he kept the ball in the gloves when he hit the ground.
This left England on 87/6 in reply to India’s 329.
Here is the video of Pant’s amazing catch off Siraj:
