Actor Suniel Shetty defended wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant after he was criticised for a lacklustre performance in India’s fourth One Day International against Australia at Mohali on Sunday, 10 March.
Replacing a rested MS Dhoni, Pant scored a 24-ball 36 laced with a six and four boundaries, but had a pretty mediocre day behind the stumps. Pant was greeted with chants of ‘Dhoni Dhoni’ every time he made a blunder as India struggled to defend its massive 358-run total.
Shetty however, said that critics needed to introspect what they were doing at Pant’s age, and that he needed to be give a chance.
“He’s just 21 and represents India in all 3 formats. Let’s introspect and see what we were doing at that age. Give him a chance. Rishabh Pant you are pure talent keep the focus, you got this!” he wrote in a tweet.
The actor also found a lot of support on his tweet. Indian wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha replied saying “True!” while former cricketer and commentator Aakash Chopra said “Word”.
Unheralded Ashton Turner took an experienced Indian attack to the cleaners with some unbelievable hitting, helping Australia chase down a record breaking target of 359 runs and level the five-match series at Mohali.
It was the highest ever total that Indian team failed to defend in its ODI history, losing the game by four wickets.
India play Australia in the series-decider in New Delhi on Wednesday, 13 March.
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