Rishabh Pant reprieve: England bring up ‘what if’ moment

Pant’s 118-ball 101 and 113-run seventh-wicket stand with Washington Sundar (batting on 60) helped India take a 89-run lead over England on Day Two of the fourth and final Test.

Rishabh Pant’s fiery century might not have come about had England got a DRS call against the big-hitter in their favour when he was on 35.

Pant’s 118-ball 101 and 113-run seventh-wicket stand with Washington Sundar (batting on 60) helped India take a 89-run lead over England on Day Two of the fourth and final Test. But the southpaw was extremely lucky that umpire Nitin Menon adjudged him not out when he totally missed a delivery from off-spinner Dom Bess after getting into a difficult position. 

As per the DRS rules, at least 50 per cent of the ball should be hitting the stumps. However, in Pant’s case it was marginally lesser than that and so he survived thanks to the umpire’s call. 

England’s spin coach Jeetan Patel wondered whether his team would have been in a different position had Pant been given out in the first place. “I’m not going to harp on the umpiring decision but what if it would have gone the other way [umpire giving him out]? We could have been in a different position right now,” said Patel at the virtual media interaction after the day’s play.

Patel however, felt that the game is pretty evenly poised despite Pant’s blitzkrieg. “The game is still quite in the balance. Yes, it is going to take a big effort from us but I think the partnership from Rishabh and Washington was huge. We don’t know whether it was a discussion in their change room or not, but he played aggressively and it all came off for him, and when the guy is striking [the ball] like this, it’s pretty daunting to have him come at No. 7 and score like that. It’s important to get those three wickets as early as possible. And then, anything over a 100 [run target] on a wearing wicket would be interesting,” said Patel. 

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