[WATCH] Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant’s hilarious dance moves leave VVS Laxman in splits
Indian captain Hardik Pandya and his deputy Rishabh Pant came up with some hilarious dance moves on Saturday (November 19). The duo left acting head coach VVS Laxman in splits after they reached Tauranga for the second T20I against New Zealand to be played at Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui, on Sunday (November 20).
In a video shared by cricket journalist Vimal Kumar on YouTube, Pandya and Pant can be seen imitating a group of women apparently welcoming and entertaining the Men in Blue with local dance moves.
For the uninitiated, the T20I opener in Wellington was abandoned due to rain, which could once again play spoilsport in the upcoming fixture.
According to accuweather.com, showers will likely occur at Mount Maunganui on Sunday. The two teams will hope for clear skies, with both India and New Zealand eager to bounce back from their World Cup exits.
“His strike rate is highest when he opens” – Dinesh Karthik on Rishabh Pant
Dinesh Karthik, meanwhile, feels that vice-captain Rishabh Pant should play as an opener in the two T20Is in New Zealand. The senior wicket-keeper batter pointed out that the southpaw has an impressive strike rate as an opener and wants him to exploit the powerplay overs.
It is worth mentioning that Pant has opened for Team India in T20Is on only three occasions, scoring 54 runs at a below-par average of 18 but at a decent strike rate of 158.82.
Speaking to Cricbuzz, Karthik said:
“The best position for him might be opening because of his ability to play shots. And then, with the field up in the powerplay, he can go gung-ho. Interestingly, his stats also reflect that his strike rate is highest when he opens.
"When the field is up, he likes to take on the bowlers and then when he comes out of the powerplay, you have a left-hander who can play a lot more shots against spinners.”
Pant has so far failed to make an impact in T20Is despite his brilliance in Test and ODI formats. He has amassed only 970 runs in 54 innings at an average of 23.10, which includes only three half-centuries.
In 2022, he scored 347 runs in 19 innings, including single-digit scores in a couple of matches at the recently concluded T20 World Cup.
The Delhi Capitals captain will look to step up regardless of his batting position in the upcoming games.
Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya, who has won all three of his matches as a T20I skipper, will be looking to continue his 100% win record. A series win could help him stay as the front-runner to replace regular T20I skipper Rohit Sharma after the T20 World Cup debacle.
India squad for New Zealand T20Is: Hardik Pandya (C), Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson (wk), W Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Mohd. Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umran Malik.