Rishabh Pant,
Photo Credit: Getty Images.

India has been all sorts of bother when they came to bat in pursuit to chase down the target of 240. Earlier, New Zealand batted first on Tuesday (July 9), in the first semi-final at the Old Trafford in Manchester. The No. 4 batsman Rishabh Pant came to bat when India were reeling at five for three in 3.1 overs.

Earlier, on the reserve day, New Zealand resumed their innings at 211 for five in 46.1 overs. However, following a short break Team India openers in the form of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul were looking for an ideal start.

However, in the first 19 balls of India’s innings, both openers were removed by Matt Henry. Also, Trent Boult trapped Virat Kohli in front of the wickets. The trio managed to scorer one each before trudged off the ground.

Pant goes aerial for nothing:

However, in between Pant had stitched a 19-run partnership alongside Dinesh Karthik for the fourth wicket when Jimmy Neesham had claimed a sensational low catch on the bowling of Matt Henry.

With things worsening for Team India, Hardik Pandya came out to bat alongside Pant. The duo added 47-runs for the fifth wicket before Pant played a rash shot.

Pertinently, on the penultimate delivery of 23rd over, Mitchell Santner kept things tight for Pant. The southpaw had played four dot deliveries before playing a slog-sweep to get some pressure off. But, it has gone terribly wrong for the Men in Blue.

While getting down on the back knee, Pant played a full-bloodied shot which saw Colin de Grandhomme pouching a simple catch at the deep mid-wicket.

Meanwhile, the Twittersphere has questioned him for his shot selection. Also, he has been criticised for making things very tense in the run chase.

Also, skipper Virat Kohli looked fumed who walked out to have a brief chat with the head coach, Ravi Shastri.

Here’s how the Twitter world has lashed out at Rishabh Pant:

https://twitter.com/RoshanKrRai/status/1148921986464149504

https://twitter.com/GappistanRadio/status/1148922992140812290

https://twitter.com/MithunYash07/status/1148922150289469440

https://twitter.com/MithunYash07/status/1148921819484712961

https://twitter.com/MajumderRonak/status/1148923538566307840

https://twitter.com/yesimAmit/status/1148922266635210752

Tahir Ibn Manzoor

Tahir Ibn Manzoor, who tweets @TahirIbnManzoor (https://twitter.com/TahirIbnManzoor) - works as an editor for Sportzwiki.com. He has a great affection for longform feature writing. He completed his masters...