If Rishabh Pant is seriously trying to replace the legendary MS Dhoni in the playing eleven, then his performance in the just-concluded fourth ODI against Australia is surely not the kind of show that would convince the team-management. The youngster had a tough day behind the stumps and his act in the 44th over perfectly summed up his day. With Australia giving India a run for their money despite chasing a mammoth 359, Pant’s naive attempt to replicate MS Dhoni-type of run-out cost India a vital run.
On the third ball of the 44th over bowled by Yuzvendra Chahal, Alex Carey could not play the shot he wanted as the ball after hitting the edge of his bat hit his pads. The ball then fell to the left of Rishabh Pant. In the meantime, Carey had taken a step forward and Pant thought that there was a run-out chance. Pant went on to cheekily throw the ball from in-between his legs but missed the target. With no fielder backing up, Carey and his partner managed to steal a valuable single. The cameras soon focused towards skipper Virat Kohli and he could not help but extend his arm in frustration.
Here is a clip of the incident:
https://twitter.com/Umeshmohnani1/status/1104818653122318336?
The one run, nonetheless, did not make much difference as Australia went on to chase down the total inside 48 overs. Ashton Turner was the star with the bat, slamming an unbeaten 84 off just 43 balls. Prior to him, Usman Khawaja (91) and Peter Handscomb (117) had helped Australia recover from 12 for 2 with a 192-run stand.