Watch: Rishabh Pant sledges Usman Khawaja in Adelaide Test
What's the story?
During Australia's first innings in the ongoing Adelaide Test, Rishabh Pant equalled MS Dhoni's record (six catches) for the most number of catches in a Test innings by an Indian wicket-keeper.
Aside from being was at his very best behind the stumps, Pant was also very active vocally and constantly chirped from behind the stumps. He was seen sledging Usman Khawaja during the second day's play.
The background
After opting to bat first, the Indian batsmen failed in their intent to score big as they couldn't tackle the scorching pace of the Australian pacers. Cheteshwar Pujara waged a lone battle to save India's blushes by scoring a magnificent century which is sure to be remembered for years to come. His 246-ball 123 contained seven boundaries and two sixes.
Pujara's stay at the crease came to an end through Pat Cummins's spectacular run-out effort. Something of that sort was needed to remove the man who was looking rock-solid during his epic innings. Australia started their first innings very early on day two as India lost their tenth wicket on the very first ball of the second day.
The heart of the matter
Australia batted the whole of second day to score only 191 runs. In the process, they lost seven wickets due to a spectacular bowling performance from the Indians.
Wicket-keeper Pant was constantly in the air of the Australian batsmen from behind the stumps during their first innings. One such notable instance happened when Khawaja was at the crease while Ravichandran Ashwin was bowling at the other end.
Pant was heard on the stump mic saying, "Not everyone is Pujara here, lads!" . The sharp sledge worked like a charm as the left-hander returned to the pavilion shortly after the incident. He edged a sterling delivery from Ashwin and Pant took a tremendous catch. The gloveman's sledging has caught the eye of cricket fans tuning into the action at Adelaide.
What's next?
The Indian bowlers have done brilliantly in restricting the Aussies to 235 and it is now up to the batsmen to pile runs on the board. The openers have set a strong platform and the onus is on the middle-order to extend the lead in order to set a stiff total for the hosts in their fourth innings.