While the Australians have been pretty quiet on the field this time, stumper Rishabh Pant seems to be enjoying chirping from behind the wickets in the first Test at the Adelaide Oval. After having sledged Usman Khawaja on the second day, the young Indian wicketkeeper took on Pat Cummins during the final day’s play.
Pant asked Cummins to go for a six, uttering that it is not at all easy to survive on the crease.
“It's not easy to survive man”, “Come on Pat, hit some sixes”, “C’mon Ash [R Ashwin], keep bowling in the patch to Pat”, “Come on Pat - you’re not putting the bad ball away” – Pant said all of it. However, Cummins didn’t bother about the sledging and continued batting without paying much attention.
Here’s the video:
Probably it was a payback form the 21-year-old to what he got from Cummins in the first innings. The Aussie speedster had few words for Pant when he was batting on day 1. Even Mitchell Starc tried to sledge the Indian wicketkeeper-batsman and now the hosts are getting it back.
On the other hand, former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar didn't look impressed with Pant sledging Cummins. While commentating, he said, "Say anything you want to your teammates, not to the opposition."
Set a target of 323, Australia reached 186 for six at lunch at the Adelaide Oval. In the second session, Bumrah dismissed Tim Paine on 41 and now, the hosts need another 3 wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the series.