NEW DELHI: Rishabh Pant is a livewire on the field, bringing energy to the atmosphere with his thrilling shots while batting and his entertaining antics behind the wickets.
In a hilarious turn of events that unfolded during the first day’s play of the second Test against New Zealand in Pune, Pant was caught on the stump mic telling spinner Washington Sundar to bowl a bit fuller to Kiwi tailender Ajaz Patel.
“Washi aage daal sakta you can bowl a little fuller, thoda bahar daal sakta hai,” Pant came up with a suggestion to Sundar.
Sundar seemed to have followed Pant’s advice, delivering a tossed-up ball that turned out to be a bit too straight. Ajaz Patel swung through the line, and the ball flew to the right of mid-on, racing away for four runs.
Patel’s response to Sundar’s delivery left Pant slightly disappointed, as he was overheard saying, “Yaar mereko kya pata issey Hindi aati hai”.
In the match, Sundar shone on his return to the Indian side, taking seven wickets as New Zealand was bowled out for 259. At the close of play in Pune, India stood at 16 for 1, having lost captain Rohit Sharma for a nine-ball duck to a Tim Southee delivery that shaped away and crashed into the off-stump off his pad.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, with six runs, and Shubman Gill, with ten, were at the crease as the hosts trailed by 243 runs. Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra led the New Zealand batting effort, scoring 76 and 65 runs, respectively, after captain Tom Latham won the toss.
Off-spinner Sundar finished with impressive figures of 7 for 59, while fellow off-break bowler Ravichandran Ashwin took 3 for 64, helping to dismiss New Zealand in just 79.1 overs.