During the second T20I of the ongoing West Indies’ tour of India in Thiruvananthapuram, the young Indian wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant was again seen being criticized for his glove work. It all happened after Pant dropped a tough chance behind the wickets to dismiss West Indies’ opening batsman Evin Lewis. It was on the fourth delivery of the fifth over when Lewis edged a Bhuvneshwar Kumar delivery to the left of Pant.
With his initial movement being to his right (towards the batsman and the line of the ball), the opportunity became all the more difficult for Pant. With all-rounder Washington Sundar also dropping Lendl Simmons in the same over, the spectators couldn’t fathom two drops in the same over.
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Pant, who usually hears shouts regarding legendary wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni, continued to hear criticism on Sunday albeit in the name of fellow wicket-keeper batsman Sanju Samson. The Indian skipper, Virat Kohli was unhappy with spectators as he urged the fans to not cheer against Pant.
Here is the video of the same:
— Utkarsh Bhatla (@UtkarshBhatla) December 9, 2019
— Utkarsh Bhatla (@UtkarshBhatla) December 9, 2019
It is worth mentioning that the Greenfield Stadium in the home ground for Samson. Been part of the Indian squad since the Bangladesh series, fans of the 25-year old cricketer desperately want him to play for India. Kohli, who was fielding at the boundary when spectators were cheering “Sanju Sanju”, urged them to not do the same. When the chants continued, Kohli was seen in a disagreeing mood and rightly so.
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It was a brisk 61-run partnership for the third wicket between Lendl Simmons (67*) and West Indies wicket-keeper batsman Nicholas Pooran (38*) which sealed the 171-run chase for the visitors with 9 balls to spare. Having scored his sixth T20I half-century, Simmons was declared the Man of the Match.
Here is how Twitterati reacted to the incident:
Cheers from the crowd in Thiruvananthapuram reserved for their very own @IamSanjuSamson 😎😎 #TeamIndia #INDvWI @Paytm pic.twitter.com/8zJSQZ2LeR
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 8, 2019
Sound. On. 🔥💗#HallaBol | #RoyalsFamily | @IamSanjuSamson https://t.co/Tryw24q5Jf
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) December 8, 2019
A hero's welcome for Sanju! 🔊😍#HallaBol | #RoyalsFamily | @IamSanjuSamson pic.twitter.com/GdzBqoC4ZI
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) December 8, 2019
It's only a bilateral series, and not even a decider. The management could have dropped anyone to play Sanju Samson. But I guess Kohli wants to give Pant some much needed confidence. He's telling him even in Samson's den, you are starting. Your place in this team is unchallenged.
— Antony Stanley (@antonystanley09) December 8, 2019
