New Delhi: Rishabh Pant’s dismissal during India’s second innings in the ongoing 3rd Test against New Zealand sparked controversy. Pant was caught by Tom Blundell at slips off the bowling of left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel after scoring a fighting half-century on Day 3 of the Test match. The Indian wicket-keeper batter was well set and looked destined to take the hosts home in the 147-run chase before his innings came to a controversial end.
Pant turned out to be the lone warrior for India in their second innings after a dramatic top-order collapse. The explosive left-hander, who has been remarkably consistent in Test cricket, continued his fine form in India’s second innings with a gritty knock of 64 runs. He kept India in the hunt despite the hosts losing wickets at regular intervals from the other end.
However, Pant failed to finish the job for India as he was dismissed on 64 in the 22nd over, leaving the hosts reeling at 106/7 in the 147-run chase. His dismissal sparked a massive debate on social media as many argued Pant the ball had not touched Pant’s bat before being caught by Blundell at slips. The on-field umpire adjudged Pant not out before New Zealand decided to go for a review.
The replays on the big screen showed that there were spikes on the ultra edge when the bat was close to the bat and the pad. Third umpire Paul Reiffel concluded the ball had deflected off Pant’s bat and decided to overturn the on-field umpire’s decision to give him out. The decision didn’t go down well with Pant, who was seen arguing with the on-field umpires trying to convince them the ball had deflected off his pad and the noise was of the ball hitting his pad.
Many on social media too agreed with Pant’s argument and argued that the evidence was inconclusive whether the ball took the edge of the bat or not. Former South Africa batter AB de Villiers too argued whether there was conclusive evidence that the ball had hit Pant’s bat and not his pad before being caught by Blundell.
Rishabh Pant’s dismissal sparks controversy in 3rd Test
Controversy! Little grey area once again. Did Pant get bat on that or not? Problem is when the ball passes the bat at exactly the same time a batter hits his pad snicko will pick up the noise. But how sure are we he hit it? I’ve always worried about this and here it happens at a…
— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) November 3, 2024
Third Class Umpire giving Rishabh Pant’s wicket pic.twitter.com/ECd9GlKFoF
— Sagar (@sagarcasm) November 3, 2024
I think it was the bat hitting the pad that made the disturbance on ultra-edge.
Rishabh Pant was also trying to explain the same thing to the umpires.
That’s why we need HotSpot + UltraEdge in DRS. pic.twitter.com/77Tw7LcrAp
— Johns (@JohnyBravo183) November 3, 2024
Rishabh Pant was not out here because umpires didn’t have any conclusive evidence to prove this out from given not out first.
None the less worth the fight, looked formidable when Pant was on the crease! pic.twitter.com/wrJWuilX08
— ARMAAN (@ArmaanRP17) November 3, 2024
Rishabh pant was Clearly “NOT OUT”…..#INDvNZ
‘Ye spike pad aur bat ke takrane ki wajah se ayi hai’ pic.twitter.com/Vm6VTva3rn
— Yakub jethva (@Munnayakub786) November 3, 2024
How Pant’s dismissal cost India 3rd Test against New Zealand?
Pant’s controversial dismissal during India’s second innings on Day 3 was the turning point in the game as the hosts lost the plot in the 147-run chase. Pant had kept India in the game with his brilliant half-century. However, his dismissal sparked another mini collapse for India towards the end as they lost 3 wickets inside 15 runs to get bundled out for 121 runs in the 2nd innings and lose the Test match by 25 runs.
