One of the big talking points in the ongoing third ODI between India and Sri Lanka at R. Premadasa Stadium has to be the stumping fumble by India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant. Making a return to ODI cricket after quite a while—exactly 616 days, Pant’s mistake came in the 49th over against Maheesh Theekshana of Sri Lanka.
As Theekshana tried to play a big shot against a delivery from Kuldeep Yadav, he cleanly missed the ball as it stayed lower than expected. Pant, behind the stumps, gathered the ball but took noticeably long time to remove the bails. This proved very costly.
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Although Theekshana’s bat was not grounded inside the crease in the first instance, due to Pant’s slow reaction, Theekshana had enough time to drag his bat for a second time and get it back inside the crease. Though the third umpire initially seemed to rule out Theekshana not out, the decision was changed after reviewing the situation.
— hiri_azam (@HiriAzam) August 7, 2024
Theekshana’s bat was grounded earlier than Rishabh Pant could complete the stumping, yet it had bounced just at that moment in replays. This led to the decision being reversed to out.
The incident was frustrating for Indian captain Rohit Sharma and bowler Kuldeep Yadav, of course. What looked to become a simple stumping controversy ended up becoming an issue. This blunder underlined the fine lines which make cricket and the critical nature of quick reflexes behind the stumps.
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Despite all the stumping controversies, Sri Lanka was allowed to get off the ropes and post a highly competitive total of 248 runs, providing a tough target for the Indian Team in their quest for victory.
Angry Gautam Gambhir watching Rishabh Pant trying to be MS Dhoni and missing easy stumping of Theekshana pic.twitter.com/Z5zchyuxfF
— ICT Fan (@Delphy06) August 7, 2024
#RishabhPant, you could have easily run out Theekshana as he was only halfway down the pitch, but instead, you chose to be cheeky, and India paid the price for your mistake. Please retire; you are the worst wicketkeeper India has ever produced.#INDvsSL #KLRahul #RiyanParag pic.twitter.com/mgrIs5c89h
— StarcyKKR (@StarcKKR) August 7, 2024
Theekshana was on half pitch and Rishabh Pant couldn’t get him stump out but believe me bro he is next MS Dhoni .
KL Rahul is anyday Better than Pant. pic.twitter.com/GZlfUqk1aT
— KL BASIT (@klbasit1) August 7, 2024
Rishabh pant missed stumping against srilanka in ODIs.🤯
Theekshana almost returned to dugout thinking that he is out but 3rd umpire checked and he was not out. pic.twitter.com/mdXDdepqGu
— cricket addict’s (@cricket0addicts) August 7, 2024
Theekshana almost walked out to the pavilion knowing that he’s gone but Rishabh Pant bottled the easiest stumping by overconfidence 🤣🤡 pic.twitter.com/va07OmWIxX
— 🄺Ⓐ🅃🄷🄸🅁 1⃣5⃣ (@katthikathir) August 7, 2024
What the hell !!!!
Theekshana was on half pitch and Rishabh Pant couldn’t get him stump out, man this guy is very very slow and is not even 10% of KL Rahul in wicket keeping….
#GOLD #deprem #ViratKohli𓃵 #indvssl #srivsind #riyanparag #klrahul #Paris2024Olympic #deprem pic.twitter.com/GzTLn3K54c— Anshul gujjar (@AnshulChou28159) August 7, 2024
Joker Xutiya Rishabh Pant toying with theekshana ki style se out karenge.
Bhangi bhikhari batsman coolly came back to crease.PR Pant jiggling his belly fat#IndiaAtOlympics #indvsl#INDvsSL #SLvsIND #slvind#Phogat_Vinesh #विनेश_फोगाट
Riyan Parag pic.twitter.com/kM6byryzVS— Imperial Tiffin (@Yash_Dhawan_) August 7, 2024
