Rishabh Pant preparing for Australia? Netizens mock Delhi star after another slow knock

Rishabh Pant’s poor run of form continued on Tuesday, a day after the Team India selectors ignored him from the white-ball squads for the India tour of Australia. Chasing a mammoth 220 to win against Hyderabad, the onus was on the Delhi star to get some quick runs to get his team closer to the required target. However, on a day when fellow competitor Wriddhiman Saha cleared the ropes with ease, Pant struggled and toiled before eventually departing in the dying stages of the game. 

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Rishabh Pant Dream11 IPL stats: Delhi star registers yet another low score, fans mock him for slow innings 

Rishabh Pant walked into bat with Delhi needing a staggering 166 runs in 14 overs. However, Rashid Khan's spell derailed the innings, meaning that Delhi fell way behind the required run-rate. While his team edged closer to a humongous defeat, Pant motored along, striking close to a run-a-ball against an inspired Hyderabad bowling attack. The wicketkeeper's innings baffled netizens, who criticised the 23-year-old's lack of intent. Pant's cause was further bogged down after Saha's brilliance earlier in the day, with the Hyderabad wicketkeeper scoring a blazing 45-ball 87 to help his side to 219. 

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Twitterati trolled Rishabh Pant for his lacklustre innings, with many claiming that the Delhi star was preparing for the Test tour down under. Netizens claimed that the 23-year-old who was only named in the Test squad for India's tour of Australia was justifying his selection by playing a slow knock. Pant's strike-rate in the Dream11 IPL 2020 has also been a cause of concern, with the Delhi star having scored only 253 at a lethargic strike-rate of 115.

To put it into perspective, in his last three seasons, Pant scored more than 350 runs in each of the seasons, striking at over 160 in the tournament. The Delhi wicketkeeper has struggled with injuries during the Dream11 IPL 2020 and has considerably fallen down the pecking order after his competitors KL Rahul, Sanju Samson all scored heavily for their franchises. 

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The Hyderabad vs Delhi result on Tuesday leaves Delhi scrambling for points as they hope to make the playoffs. With games against Mumbai and Bangalore left, Ricky Ponting and Shreyas Iyer will hope that Pant can find his mojo and help them arrest their slide. Delhi have lost their last three games by 5 wickets, 59 runs and 88 runs respectively, and need wins from both their remaining fixtures to finish in the top two this season. 

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(Image Courtesy: Rishabh Pant Instagram)