3 captaincy blunders by Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant has always divided opinion with his style of play. It wasn't long ago when fans criticized his ultra-aggressive style of play, no matter the situation.
The same approach led to one of India's greatest Test wins at the Gabba against Australia in 2019. The 24-year-old recently smashed a scintillating century in the ODIs against England, leaving most viewers in awe.
With an abundance of talent there for all to see, Pant was fast-tracked into the Indian side at an early age. Like most of his big scores, his captaincy tenure arrived much quicker than anticipated.
With such a meteoric rise underway, it's only natural for the youngster to make some mistakes in his early days as captain. People often forget that the Delhi lad is only 24-years old and someone who will learn from his mistakes, like most captains.
On that note, let’s take a look at three captaincy blunders Rishabh Pant has made in his career so far.
#1 Apperentice makes a mistake, the master makes him pay
It's no secret that the Delhi wicketkeeper shares a master-apperentice relationship with MS Dhoni. Pant has always been recognized as the long-term successor to the legendary Indian captain and his wits were tested to the limits in Qualifier 1 of IPL 2021.
With Delhi Capitals playing out a thriller against the Chennai Super Kings in this encounter, Pant took a brave call in the final over. With 13 needed off the final over for CSK, Tom Curran was handed the ball ahead of the experienced Kagiso Rabada.
To be fair to the Delhi captain, that seemed like a decent call at the moment. In his three overs, the Englishman took two wickets and only conceded 16 runs. However, he was taken to the cleaners by MSD, who managed to finish the game with two balls to spare.
#2 A review blunder against Mumbai Indians
Perhaps one of the most significant and clear-cut blunders the Delhi Capitals captain has made in his career was in a game against Mumbai Indians in IPL 2022. In this match at the Wankhede Stadium, Delhi were in a commanding position with the hosts needing 66 off 33 balls.
Tim David, the man with a destructive reputation, came to the crease for MI, only to nick one behind on his very first ball. The umpire, however, was convinced it was not out. With two reviews left and less than five overs to go, oddly enough, the DC captain opted not to go for the review.
Just moments later, UltraEdge confirmed that there was a big spike on that appeal. The replay came up on the big screen, leaving Pant kicking himself. Head coach Ricky Ponting was left fuming in the dugout as well, with Mumbai running out as eventual winners with a five-wicket victory to knock the Capitals out of playoff contention.
#3 An unconvincing outing as captain for India
Rishabh Pant's first test as Indian captain came in the T20I series against South Africa. In the first match of the series, India put themselves in the driver's seat after posting a total of 211.
What followed was a series of questionable decisions from the captain. The hosts had never lost a T20I after scoring in excess of 200 runs. However, Rassie van der Dussen and David Miller's destructive partnership ensured that India's record was broken.
One glaring error the Indian captain made was using Yuzvendra Chahal in the powerplay. Like most spinners, the leggie prefers bowling outside the powerplay but Pant's decision to bowl him early meant that he conceded 16 runs off his first over.
What was even more surprising was the fact that India had Axar Patel in the ranks, a bowler who can be a handful in the first six overs. For some reason, Rishabh didn't have complete faith in his frontline bowlers, which eventually cost him the game.
Chahal bowled only 2.1 overs in the match. Opting not to use the leggie as a wicket-taking option in the middle overs was a serious error of judgment from the young Indian captain.