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Twitter In Awe Of Rishabh Pant As He Hangs On To Stunning Catches Behind The Wicket

Twitter in awe of Rishabh Pant as he hangs on to stunning catches behind the wicket

Rishabh Pant is not known for stunning catches behind the wicket but is rather infamous for letting go of sitters sometimes. But today he seemed to be on some other planet as he handed on to some brilliant catches going away from his body.

The Twitterati were awestruck by the abilities of the 23-year-old Delhi man and sang praises of him.

Pant caught Ollie Pope off Mohammed Siraj’s first ball in this Test. The ball was heading down the leg and Pope tried to nudge fine towards the fine leg boundary to get an easy four. But he couldn’t get the better part of the bat on it and a thin edge made the ball come in touching distance of leaping Pant. He held on to the catch even as the ball popped up after he landed on his elbow.

The second one was off the bowling of Ishant Sharma, who made Jack Leach nick a good length delivery. The ball was headed straight to the first slip, but only that there was no second slip. Pant tried to chance his guts and went for the catch. He held on to it beautifully and completed another stunner to get the ninth English wicket.

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Chepauk pitch divides Twitter; Warne credit Rohit hails Rohit's century, Vaughan calls it 'stinker'

Since the time India’s vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane announced a day before the second Test against England that the pitch to be used was to assist spinners from the very first day, it has been a contentious issue. Rahane was right and so were all commentators who were expecting a spicier pitch for the spinners after a very flat pitch in the first Test which was rated very poorly by the Indian team. India came under real pressure with England spinners Jack Leach and Moeen Ali producing some unplayable deliveries on the first day and former cricketers were frenzy about the quality of the pitch. A section of former players criticised the pitch at Chepauk, others came in defence of it and cited the lack of quality and abilities of England batsmen behind their downfall in the first innings. Notably, England were bundled out for 134 runs in the first innings as Ravichandran Ashwin abagged his 29th five-wicket haul in Test cricket. Spin legend Shane Warne defended the pitch saying it took the unfair advantage of the toss from one team and established the difference in abilities of batsmen in either team. He praised Rohit Sharma for his remarkable innings that set the template for batsmen, while former England captain Michael Vaughan called the pitch a ‘stinker.’ Apart from Warne, two former Australians—Damien Fleming and Mark Vaugh criticised the pitch and rated it substandard in terms of a Test match pitch. Batting first after Virat Kohli won the toss, India put on 329 runs in their first innings on the back of a blistering hundred from Rohit Sharma and sizeable contributions from Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant. In reply, England bundled out for 134 runs and handed India a lead of 195 runs.

Fleeting view of interesting Test match: PM Modi shares picturesque view of Chepauk

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted a photo of the bird’s eye view of the Chepauk Stadium, where the second Test between India and England is going on. Taken from his helicopter, the picture shows the surrounding area of Chepauk and the beautiful stadium within it. The PM was in Tamil Nadu to mark his presence for a defence ministry ceremony where battle-ready Arjun Tanks [Arjun Main Battle Tank (MK-1A)], built by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) were to be handed over to the Indian Army. In the ongoing Test India have managed to get England all out for a minimal 134, harnessing a lead of 195 runs already before they begin their second innings. Ravichandran Ashwin was the wrecker in chief with five wickets. Axar Patel, making his debut, did well to get two wickets.

For the first time in PSL history, there would be no live opening ceremony

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Ashwin surpasses Harbhajan, closing in on Kumble on list of wicket-takers on Indian pitches

Ravichandran Ashwin’s domination of batsmen on home grounds continued in the second Test of the series against England as he surpassed Harbhajan Singh to become the second-highest wicket-taker for India in India. Anil Kumble has the record of most wickets for India and has taken 350 Test wickets. Ashwin surpassed Harbhajan who has 265 wickets against his name in Tests on Indian pitches, with the wicket of Ben Stokes on the second day of the second Test against England. Until the tea interval on the second day, he stood at 267 wickets. Ashwin has taken four wickets in this innings, and is on the verge of another fifer in consecutive innings. He had taken a six wicket-haul in the second innings of the first Test against England.