Rishabh Pant scored a counter-attacking 76 for Leicestershire on Day 2 of India’s ongoing warm-up game. He was acknowledged by his national teammates as he headed back after a well-crafted knock.
After wicketkeeper Srikar Bharat led India’s charge on Day 1 of their warm-up game against Leicestershire with a well crafted 70*, first-choice gloveman Rishabh Pant returned the favour on Friday with a sparkling 76 to help the hosts end just two runs short of India’s first-innings total of 246/8 declared.
Pant walked in to bat at 44/3, which would soon become 71/4, after Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj bagged two wickets each in a fine spell with the new ball. Pant added 58 runs with Rishi Patel for the fifth wicket, and another 70 with Roman Walker for the seventh, taking the hosts past 200.
Pant struck 14 fours and a six during his stay – the maximum coming off a top-edged lap off Umesh Yadav which got him to his fifty. A standout stroke was the free-flowing cover-drive off Mohammed Shami, very unlike his usual unorthodox style of batting.
He was eventually dismissed by Ravindra Jadeja, top-edging an attempted slog-sweep through to Shardul Thakur at long-on. He was hugged and appreciated by the bowler and his other India teammates, as he walked back to the pavilion.
Watch the dismissal and the fielding side’s subsequent reactions here:
☝️ | Pant (76), 𝐜 Iyer, 𝐛 Jadeja.@RishabhPant17’s incredibly entertaining innings ends. 🍿
He gets a hug from Jadeja & high fives from his @BCCI teammates.
🦊 LEI 213/7
𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌: https://t.co/DdQrXej7HC👈
🦊 #IndiaTourMatch | #LEIvIND | #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/80rSTLyMCe
— Leicestershire Foxes 🏏 (@leicsccc) June 24, 2022
Jadeja then dismissed Walker and Nathan Bowley to make it three for the innings, the former scoring a crucial 34, after having bagged a memorable five-for on the opening day. Shardul cleaned up No.11 Abidine Sakande for a two-ball duck to end the innings at 244.
Earlier, it was Shami who rocked the Leicestershire top-order, dismissing skipper Samuel Evans and Cheteshwar Pujara in a new-ball burst. The latter was given a friendly send-off, after playing one onto his stumps for a six ball duck.
India were 18/0 in their second dig at the time of writing, with Bharat being promoted to open alongside Shubman Gill.
