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Rishabh Pant never lets the limelight stay away from him for long. If somehow he fails to deliver with the bat, he makes sure he contributes from behind the stumps. Like it or lump it, that's Rishabh Pant for you.
In the ongoing second Test match between India and South Africa in Johannesburg, India's wicket keeper once again became the talk of the time as he was heard screaming 'Zabardast Captain hai ye' with an intention to sledge the South African captain Dean Elgar. Pant also added that Elgar is the most selfish captain that he has ever see in the same breath.
Pant's sleding was in reply of Rassie Van der Dussen's verbal attack which incited the Indian southpaw and he ended up throwing his wicket away while playing a rash shot. Then South Africa took up the ground for their second innings on Day 3. Petersen went to play flick shot off Ravichandran Ashwin's delivery, which was thrown out of the stump and spun sharply.
However, the right-handed player missed the ball and was wrapped in a pad. The umpire raised his finger after the appeal.
Petersen and Dean Elgar were discussing whether to go upstairs, but before reaching a conclusion, the DRS timer expired.
And Indian wicket keeper Rishabh Pant took advantage of this to pass comments to Elgar. Pants cursed Elgar, saying he was a “good” captain and was thinking only about himself.
However this didn't sit down well with the Indian former veteran opener Gautam Gambhir, who literally lambasted Pant as he said that the easiest thing is to sledge and toughest is to perform.
“The easier thing to do is to keep sledging someone and the toughest thing is what you have to face when you have a bat in your hand. I would have liked Rishabh to probably fight in that situation rather than stepping out and going for a big one," said Gambhir.
The former India opener didn’t shy away while bashing the wicket keeper batter and said he should learn a lot of things from South Africa skipper Dean Elgar.
“Disappointment is a very, very understated word to be honest because this is not how you should play Test cricket. Test cricket is about learning a lot from Dean Elgar and that’s the reason I have said that a lot of young Indian batters can learn a lot from Dean Elgar as well because when you play against world-class bowlers, they are not going to give you easy runs," Gambhir added.
With the willow, Dean Elgar, who remained stolid without any distraction, was solid on Day 3. The left-handed opening batter scored a gritty 46 of 121 and bothered the Indian bowling attack. Apart from Elgar, Aiden Markram and Keegan Petersen also contributed useful runs for the Proteas.
While Markram scored a quick 31, Petersen contributed 28 runs, as South Africa ended the day with their scoreboard reading 118/2. Earlier in the day, the Indian side was bowled out for a total of 266 in their second innings. Experienced willow wielders Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane scored fluent half-centuries for the Indian side.
The likes of Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, and Marco Jansen scalped 3 wickets each with the red cherry in hand for South Africa. As of lunch, the Day 4 is still in tug of war with the rain while Proteas still need 122 runs to win the match.
India currently lead the three-match Test series 1-0.
