Young Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant once again found himself at the receiving end of the trolls on social media after he displayed yet another poor performance with the bat on the opening day of the second and final Test against at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Saturday.
The 22-year-old's failure to click with the bat in the national jersey continued as he was dismissed cheaply for 12 runs off 14 deliveries.
After New Zealand won the toss and asked India to bat first, Pant came to bat for India at No.7 spot following the post-Tea session at a time when the visitors needed someone to make a significant contribution for them.
Contrary to the expectations, Pant first survived two close calls of dismissals before he was clean bowled by Kyle Jamieson after catching an inside edge on the second delivery of the 58th over.
The young wicketkeeper-batsman's yet another poor show with the bat once again invited criticism from fans, who flooded Twitter with hilarious memes.
Here are a few of them:
#NZvIND #RishabhPant
Fans , coaches , teammates giving tips and requesting to play a responsible knockRishab pant : pic.twitter.com/OQXIxYxV3L
— doctorhumour (@humourdoctor) February 29, 2020
@RishabhPant17 after playing 14 balls : #NZvIND #RishabhPant #INDvsNZ pic.twitter.com/gWFCXX6vo4
— Gavan Dhola (@_mrdhola_) February 29, 2020
Dhoni don't take more exam of #RishabhPant,now he is also ready to declare himself.
Team India is incomplete without you.@msdhoni #INDvAUS #Dhoni pic.twitter.com/CVs2OQdd6y— daksh (@Daksh_7781) February 29, 2020
Lord #RishabhPant finding new ways to get himself out.. Where is saha@indvsnz pic.twitter.com/bRM3QM1aOk
— Swapnil Gondule (@swapyy15) February 29, 2020
Well done #rishabhpant for scoring 12 runs grater than #captain of #TeamIndia. pic.twitter.com/R9Ne9PpLND
— sujay biswas (@joysu007) February 29, 2020
India were eventually bowled out for 242 in their first innings. Opening batsman Prithvi Shaw (54), first-drop Cheteshwar Pujara (54) and Hanuma Vihari (55) all notched up a half-century each for their side.
Kyle Jamieson was the pick of the bowlers for New Zealand as he bagged five wickets while conceding just 45 runs. Tim Southee and Trent Boult bagged two wickets each while Neil Wagner also chipped in with a wicket.
At the end of the day's play, New Zealand had reached 63 without the loss of wicket in their first innings against India, with Tom Latham and Tom Blundell unbeaten at their respective scores of 27 and 29, respectively.
