‘Irresponsible’ is a word that maverick Indian wicketkeeper batsman Rishabh Pant is no stranger to. Throughout his short career so far, the biggest issue that has surfaced regarding his playing style is his aggressive intent. On days when it comes off, he’s embraced as a daredevil hero. On days when it fails spectacularly, it seems to be completely irresponsible.
The 24-year-old hasn’t had as big an impact on IPL 2022 as he’d have envisioned. Last night, against Punjab Kings, Pant was in an extremely strong position to control the innings after a wonderful six but ended up throwing away his wicket against Liam Livingstone.
Pant’s dismissal occurred in the 12th over of the contest, just one over after Lalit Yadav had returned to the pavilion. The Delhi Capitals captain announced his intent from the word go with a one-handed six against Liam Livingstone but went for broke on the very next delivery. Livingstone slipped one wide and the left-hander completely missed the line and got stumped after coming off his crease.
As a result, DC, who had gotten a tremendous start from Sarfaraz Khan and Mitchell Marsh, fell 10-15 runs short of the par score and could only manage 159/7.
Former Indian cricketers RP Singh and Pragyan Ojha were extremely critical of Pant and said that he committed a blunder by falling into Livingstone’s trap. RP Singh also added that the DC skipper had a golden opportunity to return to form but ended up scuffing the chance.
“As a captain, it’s your responsibility to stay there and he shouldn’t have fallen into the trap. As spectators, we love it when there’s a battle out there. But the team suffers at the end of it. He had hit a six; hence, another big shot was not needed because if you see he hasn’t done too well in this tournament.”
“He has always had a penchant for playing explosive knocks but we haven’t seen it here. Today, he had a chance as it was a critical game. You expect the captain or the main player to blaze away and pull us out of trouble. However, he perished and the Capitals managed 159. The team management also has to think about how Pant has to approach his innings,” said the former Purple Cap winner.
Despite this, Delhi Capitals went on to win the match by 17 runs as Shardul Thakur bowled his best this season and took a four-wicket haul to restrict the PBKS run-chase.
