Rishabh Pant talked about the India vs. Pakistan rivalry on the field and how some slogans by the fans truly made him laugh. India and Pakistan will clash in the T20 World Cup 2024 on June 9, Sunday in New York.
Pant made his international cricket return against Ireland on June 5, after recovering from a car accident in which he was involved in December 2022.
A match between India and Pakistan is always treated as a festival in both countries, with fans participating enthusiastically. During this chaos, numerous fans often come up with amazing punchlines and comments to criticize the opposing team.
One such line caught everyone's attention: "Tel lagao Dabur ka, wicket lo Babar ka”.
Ahead of the highly-anticipated match, India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh shared his views on this hilarious line, which was given by the Indian fans to mock Pakistan skipper Babar Azam.
"If we are going to see it from a player's perspective then they also work hard for their country. These kinds of banters keep on going and the interesting part is, that they bring a lot of emotion from both countries. These narratives made by the fans like 'Tel lagao Dabur ka, wicket lo Babar ka' (laughs), makes the competition more interesting," Pant said on India TV's show, 'Aap Ki Adaalat'.
Rishabh Pant, India's wicketkeeper batter, described a recent incident in which he attempted to get beneath the skin of Virat Kohli during an IPL 2024 match last month.
Pant missed a crucial game against the Delhi Capitals as the Royal Challengers Bengaluru hosted them. He was serving a one-match ban.
While Kohli was batting, I couldn't help but notice Pant standing in the changing room, up to his shenanigans to disrupt Kohli's rhythm. Pant opened up about the sledging, stating that he started it by accident. Kohli was caught mouthing 'I'll strike you. Sit down," in response to Pant's shenanigans.
"It happened during the RCB game. I was banned without doing anything. I tried a lot to prevent it but it was uncontrollable, not in my hands. Sitting outside I thought I'd disturb the mindset or something because the RCB dressing room is right behind the sightscreen. At first, I did not know. I thought they were calling their teammates. Then when I realized, I thought I might as well tease him a little more. I didn't give him the chance to say anything because I escaped," Pant said on 'Aap ki Adaalat'.
This wasn't the first time Pant sledged Kohli in an IPL match. During the 2018 edition of the IPL, Pant, standing behind the wicket, constantly chirped away and got Kohli's attention in the process. Kohli's words were picked up by the stump mic. "What are you doing? You realize you'll soon come back to the dressing room, right?"
Pant also mentioned that he usually takes his permission, which, in turn, he feels helps lift the spirits of the team.
"I actually take his permission and try out. 'Let me be free during the match. Let me speak what I feel like. Let me feel the energy and I will lift the energy of the team. I say what I feel like. As long as you're not thinking ill of someone, everything is fine," added Pant.
