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Bat Goes Flying! 5 Times Rishabh Pant, Hardik And Other IPL Batters Lost Control Of Willow

Bhargav Dixit

Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya lose their bats. [Source: IPL]Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya lose their bats. [Source: IPL]

India wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant, who is on the verge of beginning a new phase of career in the Indian Premier League, would be expecting a change of fortunes upon joining Lucknow Super Giants after a decorated nine-year stint at Delhi Capitals. Third-highest run-scorers among wicket-keeper batters in the IPL, Pant is yet to be part of a title-winning IPL unit.

Pant, who has become the most expensive cricketer in the history of the biggest T20 league across the globe, is a throughgoing entertainer irrespective of the team he represents or format he plays.

All of this, however, mostly comes at the price of the left-handed batter not only losing his balance but also losing control of his bat. As a result, the piece of wood flying high in the air to land in different parts of the 30-yard circle.

Other than Pant, Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya and Delhi batter Karun Nair have also been involved in similar bizarre acts in the IPL.

A primary reason why the same happens is when batters, in an attempt to play the big shots, try to hit the ball way too hard with sweaty hands or gloves. Pant, in particular, is often found guilty of generating an unbelievable amount of force to send the ball towards the boundary.

5 Times Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya And Other IPL Batters Lost Control Of Bats

Karun Nair (2016)

In what was Pant’s fourth IPL match, Nair had replaced him in the middle at No. 3. During his way to 32 (23) including five fours, Nair’s venture to slog a Ashoke Dinda full-toss to make most of the powerplay overs had resulted in him unintentionally throwing the bat towards the square leg umpire.

Hardik Pandya (2022)

Facing Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Wankhede Stadium in his first season as captain, Pandya had put on display a similar incident. Trying to slog RCB all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, all the right-handed batter could do was throw his bat towards the square leg umpire without making any contact with the ball.

While the commentators had a good laugh about the same, Natasa Stankovic, Pandya’s wife at the time, was also spotted in a surprised state failing to believe how Pandya missed a ball that was there to be hit.

Rishabh Pant (2021)

During the 33rd IPL 2021 match against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Dubal International Cricket Stadium, Pant had lost total control of his bat while trying to hit a Rashid Khan delivery with disdain. Pant, whose bat had flown towards the mid-wicket region, eventually scored 35* (21) in a match-winning 42-ball 67-run third-wicket partnership alongside Shreyas Iyer.



Rishabh Pant (2022)

Pant, as DC captain again, had lost his bat to marginally survive a hit wicket dismissal against Kolkata Knight Riders spinner Varun Chakravarthy at the Brabourne Stadium.

A successful reverse sweep which fetched him a boundary had resulted in him lobbing the bat over the stumps to give it a 360-degree swirl. During his short stint in the middle, Pant had scored 27 (14) comprising two fours and sixes each.

Rishabh Pant (2021)

Pant’s second such instance during the 14th season of the IPL in Dubai had seen him losing his bat in a high-intensity Qualifier 1 against Chennai Super Kings. In what was the penultimate over of the innings, Pant had mis-timed a Dwayne Bravo delivery towards Deepak Chahar at third man.

While his bat had dropped near a potential leg gully, Chahar missed a difficult catching opportunity to give Pant a reprieve as he ended up scoring 51* (35) at a strike rate of 145.71 in a vital 50-ball 83-run stand alongside Shimron Hetmyer.