India vs Australia: Rishabh Pant suffers concussion during 1st ODI
Indian wicket-keeper, Rishabh Pant suffered a concussion during the first innings of the 1st ODI between India and Australia at the Wankhede Stadium and is currently under observation. The left-hander was struck on his helmet after the ball ricochet off his bat when he tried to pull Pat Cummins on the second delivery of the 44th over.
Courtesy the deflection, Pant only managed a tame lob towards point, which was gathered by easily by Ashton Turner. Subsequently, the Delhi Capitals wicket-keeper wasn’t able to assume wicket-keeping duties in Australia’s essay with that responsibility being shouldered by KL Rahul.
After being put into bat, India found themselves in a comfortable position at 134-1 after 27 overs. However, a middle-overs collapse meant that the likes of Pant and Ravindra Jadeja were tasked with marshalling the lower-order and mounting a substantial total on the board.
Unfortunately though, the pair perished in quick succession, despite stitching together a vital 49-run stand. Thereafter, the Indians were rid of the requisite thrust in the death overs as the folded for a modest-looking 255 in 49.1 overs.
At the time of writing, the visitors had gotten off to a solid start, with Aaron Finch and David Warner rattling away to 36 in the opening 6 overs. The aforementioned period though wasn’t devoid of drama as the latter was accorded a reprieve when he adeptly used the DRS, after being adjudged to have been dismissed caught behind by Michael Gough in the 6th over.
With the next ODI scheduled to take place on the 17 January, it would be interesting to see if Pant recovers and is fit enough to start.