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Rishabh Pant labelled a ‘liar’ after claiming dropped catch

Fans have slammed Indian wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant after a pair of horrific blunders with one labelled as tantamount to cheating.

Andrew McMurtryAndrew McMurtry
@AndrewMcMurtry
3 min read
January 8, 2021 - 8:53AM
50 for Will Pucovski just rubs it in.
50 for Will Pucovski just rubs it in.

Will Pucovski will be thanking his lucky stars after his debut 50 for Australia after Indian wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant gave him two major lives.

And fans have turned on the chatty star after he claimed a catch that clearly bounced, with some fans claiming it’s equivalent to cheating.

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After his banter and talk behind the stumps had plenty of people talking in the second Test, the decision to stick with better batsman has proved costly for India.

Pucovski was on 26 while Australia was 1/49 when a faint edge was dropped by Pant of Ravichandran Ashwin.

On Fox Cricket, Adam Gilchrist explained the problem for the gloveman,

“Look at the hand position of Rishabh Pant, the way his fingers are pointing, they’re pointing at the ball,” Gilchrist said. “Ideally we want those fingers pointing down towards turf. Hands are apart which are not a good thing. Ideally we want those little fingers together, pointing down and spreading the gloves as wide as possible to have as much surface area and nice and soft as well.

“Hard hands, it hits it and bounces straight out.”

The first drop from Pant.
The first drop from Pant.

“That is a chance that most keepers would accept gleefully,” former Australian batsman Michael Hussey sighed on Fox Cricket.

Sports journalist Sudipto Ganguly tweeted: “With two spinners in the side there’s absolutely NO justification of playing Rishabh Pant ahead of Wriddhiman Saha as wicketkeeper. It’s the team which is made to pay for these arbitrary, non-cricketing decisions from the management.”

CricViz tweeted that since the beginning of 2018, Pant averages 0.86 dropped catches a Test, the worst record of all wicketkeepers to have played 10 Tests in that time.

But it was the next drop that proved costly.

Pucovski was on 32 with Australia on 1/56.

A short ball looked to be his undoing with Mohammed Siraj catching his glove on the way past.

The ball ballooned and Pant appeared to have pouched the catch.

He rolled the ball away and then high fived his teammates with the umpires needing to send it upstairs to check it out.

The decision was sent upstairs with a soft signal of “out”, but the third umpire adjudicated the catch had not been completed.

It could be argued the 23-year-old genuinely believed he had completed the dismissal but the cricket community ripped into Pant for appearing to claim he had cleanly taken the catch.

Later the commentators where still confused if he claimed it or he had just not corrected the umpires who sent it upstairs as out.

Hard to believe he caught it with his hands over the top of the ball.
Hard to believe he caught it with his hands over the top of the ball.

Talking about the drops at tea on Fox Cricket, Mark Waugh savaged the drops.

“These are regulation for a good wicketkeeper,” Mark Waugh said, claiming both catches were sitters.

But it was Shane Warne that gave him the biggest clip.

“He thought he took it - well I just can’t believe that because you look at his hands,” Warne said.

“You can’t catch a ball when your hands are basically facing down.

“You watch his hands, he tries but then watch his hands, he sort of bumps the ball onto the ground. You see that? He smothers it, it’s like a try.

“He didn’t actually get his hands underneath so you can’t give that out. How’s he claiming that, how’s he catching that? The only thing underneath the palm of his hands is dirt. So I was a little disappointed with that one.”

Harsha Bhogle called the incident “very tricky” but Warne carried on.

“I don’t think it was tricky,” Warne said. “You just can’t catch a ball with your hands in that shape.”

Fans were equally savage on the butterfingered star, with the reaction ranging from jokes to accusations of cheating for claiming a catch that was turfed.

Cricket analyst Sarang Bhalerao tweeted: “Pucovski can buy a lottery ticket – looks like it is his day. Another life for him. It has been tough 10 minutes for Rishabh Pant. Has dropped Pucovski twice.”

Former Victorian wicketkeeper Darrien Berry also tweeted Saha was unlucky to have only played the one Test this series.

“Pant might be a slightly better bat than Saha and a louder voice but not even a comparison with the gloves. Costly misses here as well as the ones in Melbourne. Average against spin with stiff hands / poor technique. Feel for Saha deeply”.

Pucovski has made the Indians pay as well, bringing up his 50 just before tea in a near dream debut for the Aussie opener.

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/sport/cricket/rishabh-pant-labelled-a-liar-after-claiming-dropped-catch/news-story/426856610b815a800058d4c7dbde5bc6