"Literally blind slogger!" - Furious fans slam Rishabh Pant after another failure in 3rd IND vs SA 2022 T20I
Rishabh Pant and his men once again couldn't quite put up a convincing showing with the bat as India ended up with 179/5 in the third T20I against South Africa at Visakhapatnam on Tuesday, June 14.
Half-centuries from Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan set the platform up beautifully for others to follow. However, Shreyas Iyer (14 off 11) and Rishabh Pant (six off eight) continued to struggle.
Things slowed down dramatically for the hosts and Hardik Pandya's late hits (31* off 21) ensured India had a respectable total on what looked like a sensational batting wicket.
Fans on Twitter slammed Pant for once again not making the most of his opportunity. Some even felt that he doesn't deserve to be an automatic pick for the T20 World Cup.
Here are some of the reactions:
Pant can keep failing and I will still play him in T20 WC without thinking twice but bhai improve your T20I record. Aur aise to nahi hi hoga.
Pant should never be seen as a future captain for the next 3 4 years atleast. As cliche as it sounds, captaincy doesn't sit well on him, first thing is, he is brain de@d as a captain, some of his on field calls are atrocious 2nd, it's obviously affecting his batting.
Never got going today, did Pant.
Most Single Digit Dismissals by Indian WK at Home T20Is
7 - Rishabh Pant in 20 Innings*
6 - All other IND WKs in 38 Innings
#INDvsSA
Need to keep an eye out if teams increasingly start using the bowling wide of off ploy against Pant.
@mufaddal_vohra Dear Dhoni , Please stay away from pant. Don't make him like yourself ๐ https://t.co/flmUXEO4AT
Was just Pant's 9th T20 for india, will learn with more experience
Before rating Sanju samson give him atleast 50% chances that Rishabh Pant got. 46 T20i matches with 23 avg and 126 SR speaks volumes about Pant the t20 player. #INDvsSA https://t.co/K1mE0xV1Sx
I would still drop Chahal & get Bishnoi in for the next t20i. Makes long term sense. give Pant 1 more t20i..just to be sure he does not belong here.
PANT DOES NOT DESERVE TO BE AN AUTOMATIC PICK IN THE T20I XI!
Pant shouldn't even be playing this series... And here's he leading when he's not even ready. The man needed rest.
Still time to send him on the flight to England and give Hardik the duty for last 2 games.
@CricCrazyJohns imagine pant as captain , who don't even know how to play in t20is https://t.co/rDOb99Gbda
Pant in T20Is - avg 23.32; SR 125.95. 40 innings.
@bhawnakohli5 Nothing is wrong in it if he plays in place of Pant because Pant's records in T20Is ๐คฎ๐คฎ
Hardik achhe captain saabit honge
It's not only about his T20I record, Pant needs to make a lot of changes in his hitting technique to succeed in shorter form.
#INDvSA
Grand entry for Rishabh the consistent Pant into the academy,Proper academy legend vibes from him ๐ฅ๐ #INDvSA https://t.co/tk2Du7EQsZ
Love Rishabh pant as a cricketer but his t20 international numbers need to get betterโฆ
.Daily reminder that, Pant greatest career achievement is he's getting compared with MS Dhoni ๐.
Against SA:-
Shreyas iyer -36 ,40, 14
Pant -29 ,5 ,6
True Captain Pant โค๏ธ
Pant is literally blind slogger๐ญ๐ญ
Bairstow is playing with more sr in a test match than Iyer n Pant played in T20 match ๐ญ๐ญ
RD should do whatever it takes to fix Pant vs wide lines before the WC because that is all he is going to face until he shows he can deal with it. there is no middle order LHB depth in the country - you absolutely need him at his best. if Rathour canโt do it, get someone else in.
Captaincy in tabad tod Rishab Pant batting Out ๐ #INDvsSA https://t.co/1jeRHPqD3x
Hardik schooling Pant on how to hit boundaries without blind slogging.
Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant failed to make full use of the platform set by openers
Ishan Kishan, who normally takes on bowlers in the powerplay, decided to play second-fiddle to Ruturaj Gaikwad this time. The 25-year-old stormed out of the blocks and hit Anrich Nortje for five consecutive boundaries in an over.
Gaikwad gave Kishan some time to settle in as the right-hander brought up his maiden half-century in T20Is. After Gaikwad was dismissed, Kishan took the attack to the spinners and ensured India kept on scoring at a fair rate.
But once both openers were dismissed, the new batters such as Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya found it difficult to adjust to the pace of the pitch. Iyer was caught at square leg trying to sweep, while Pant was caught at mid-off as he tried to play across the line.
With Dinesh Karthik too failing to apply the finishing touches, the hosts definitely fell 15-20 runs short. The bowlers will need to step up and take early wickets if they want to stop this in-form South African batting brigade from winning the series in the third T20I itself.