The ball doing all sorts of things. The overcast conditions making it increasingly difficult for batters to survive. New Zealand pacers giving nothing away. Captain Rohit Sharma, star batter Virat Kohli and Sarfaraz Khan back in the hut in the first hour of play. India reeling at 12/33 after opting to bat first in practically the first morning of the Test. What does Rishabh Pant do? He attempts a standing reverse sweep against a fast bowler, of course!
In the fifth ball of the 12th over of India’s innings, Pant attempted an audacious reverse sweep against Matt Henry. It was a length delivery that pitched on leg and went on with the angle. Pant, as premeditated as it gets, cleared his front leg and sat down to play the reverse lap. But the ball got too big on him. It caught his gloves and lobbed up in the air only to land safely.
The Chinnaswamy crowd and the Indian sight screen breathed a sigh of relief. A few metres here and there, it would have resulted in the fourth Indian wicket and perhaps opened the window to a world of criticism for Pant.
The legendary Sunil Gavaskar, who was in the commentary box at that time, laughed in disbelief. “Sunil Gavaskar has had a good laugh at this,” said Dinesh Karthik on commentary.
“What was that?” Ravi Shastri asked, before the former India head coach went on to add that this is how Pant likes to play. He won’t shy away from playing this shot again,” he said.
Karthik said a reverse sweep at 12/3 only has two outcomes. If it comes off, it is hailed as courageous but if it doesn’t, it is termed stupid. “There are two ways to look at bold shots. If it comes off, it is courageous. If it doesn’t, it is silly,” said Karthik.
Moments after Pant’s failed reverse sweep, the players were asked to go off as the rain returned to cause the first stoppage on Thursday. Yashasvi Jaiswal (8) and Pant (3) were at the crease with India at 13/3.
Rohit, Kohli, Sarfaraz fail
India got off to a disastrous start after Rohit opted to bat first on Day 2, which eventually became the first day of the Test match as the first day was washed out without a ball being bowled.
After a real struggle in the first six overs in front of Tim Southee and Matt Henry, Rohit wanted to disrupt the length of Southee by charging down the track but the ball swung back in a lot to sneak through Rohit’s bat and pad. It hit the top of leg stump.
Virat Kohli (0) walked out to bat at No.3 for the first time in eight years as India were missing their designated No.3 Shubman Gill due to an injury. Kohli’s stay in the middle was cut short by a vicious delivery by William O’Rourke that bounced and came back in sharply to catch the former India captain off guard. All Kohli could do was fend at it. The ball hit the inner half of his gloves and lobbed to short fine leg fielder, who took a sharp catch.
Sarfaraz Khan (0), who replaced to Gill in the XI, played a rash shot away from his body off Henry to get dismissed for a duck. With no foot movement, he went through with the shot with just his hands and ended up hitting it up in the air. Devon Conway, standing at a widish short mid-off flew to his right to grab on to a stunning catch.