Raina forces Pant to revisit 'horrific' U-19 final, catches him off guard in IPL

Photo: BCCI New Delhi: Of all his talent and hitting prowess, Rishab Pant has also developed a notorious habit in his short yet attractive cricketing career - The habit of wandering outside his crease.  Pant, who is being portrayed as the next big thing in Indian cricket, dug old graves by getting run out in the most careless manner possible in an IPL match between Delhi Daredevils and Gujarat Lions in Kanpur. The Delhi batsman completely forgot about returning to the crease after being struck on the pads by Pradeep Sangwan in the second over of the Daredevils chase. Unlike Pant, Gujarat captain Raina displayed a mastery of match awareness by knocking the stumps down when others were busy in a futile LBW appeal. Pant, who did not even wait for the umpire’s finger, knew he had spelt doom for the second time for his team, the first being a costlier case in the U-19 World Cup final last year. In a déjà vu like incident, not the one Pant would like to remember with a smile, he repeated the same mistake which cost India the U-19 World Cup a year ago. A year back it was West Indies wicket-keeper Tevin Imlach who took advantage of Pant’s lack of match awareness. The left-hander had taken a similar stroll when beaten by a West Indian seamer and ended up losing his wicket for just 1 beside his name. On Wednesday though, Pant’s death stroll did not cost Delhi the match because of a career-best effort by Shreyas Iyer. Delhi managed to pull off an improbable last over chase against Gujarat Lions. But if Pant has to chase that eluded wicket-keeper’s slot in the Indian team, then he has to find another suitable place for his strolls other than the cricket field.