Rishabh Pant drop catches today: Watch Pant gives two reprieves to Will Pucovski in Sydney Test

Rishabh Pant drop catches today: The Indian wicket-keeper had a horrid time behind the wickets at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

During the first day of the third Test of the ongoing India’s tour of Australia in Sydney, India wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant gave a couple of reprieves to debutant Australia batsman Will Pucovski.

It all happened first on the last delivery of the 22nd over when India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin beat Pucovski in drift and loop to induce the outside edge. In what was a pretty straightforward catch, Pant’s hard hands made it difficult for him to affect the dismissal.

On the last delivery of the 25th over, Pant erred again to hand another chance to Pucovski with India pacer Mohammed Siraj missing out on his second wicket today.

Facing a well-directed short ball from Siraj, Pucovski’s attempt to play a pull shot saw him gloving the ball. Having lobbed it behind Pant, the wicket-keeper turned behind to grab a catch.

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Having missed the catch in the first attempt, Pant eventually tried to catch the ball on the second attempt. In what wasn’t the most cleanest of catches, on-field umpires referring the decision to the third umpire didn’t reap fruits for the visitors.

In the absence of a conclusive evidence, third-umpire Bruce Oxenford ruled the decision in Pucovski’s favour stating that Pant’s fingers weren’t underneath the ball when the catch was attempted.

Pant, 23, has been often criticized for his below par wicket-keeping and the aforementioned dual miss is highly likely to find him at the receiving end of more criticism.

Rishabh Pant drop catches today

Pant gives Puc a life! #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/PwhpHuJI4D

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 7, 2021

A rollercoaster of emotions for Will Pucovski! Initially given out, but on closer inspection he’s recalled to the crease! #OhWhatAFeeling@Toyota_Aus | #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/WgT5lCRjAE

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 7, 2021

How Twitterati reacted:

You can’t drop catches like these @RishabhPant17 #IndvsAus

— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) January 7, 2021

Unfortunate period of play for India. 2 catches dropped, the Jasprit injury scare and the run out chance missed. Ajinkya and Rohit will have to rally the team to not let things get out of hand.

— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) January 7, 2021

Looks like teams are taking turn to drop catches. Pant has dropped two in ten minutes #INDvAUS

— Sambit Bal (@sambitbal) January 7, 2021

Pant drops Pucovski off Ashwin. Then manages to drop Pucovski twice off the same ball from Siraj. When you pick keepers on batting you can’t expect different. #AUSvIND

— Anand Vasu (@anandvasu) January 7, 2021

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About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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