Indian wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant on Saturday continued the banter against Australian skipper Tim Paine from behind the stumps. Paine had initiated the banter with Pant on Friday when he tried to distract the youngster, asking him to join the Big Bash League franchise Hobart Hurricanes. The 21-year-old on Saturday decided to seek his ‘revenge’ from the Australian captain when he came out to bat in the second session of the third day at MCG.
As soon as the 33-year-old took the strike, Pant was heard asking Mayank Agarwal, who was standing at silly point whether he has ever heard of a “temporary captain”. “We got a special guest today. Have you ever heard of a temporary captain, ever, Mayank?” he said.
Pant further told Ravindra Jadeja, who was on the attack, that he does not need anything special to get Paine’s wicket as he can only talk. “You don’t need anything to get him out, boy. He loves to talk, that’s the only thing he can do, boy! Only, talking, talking!” Pant said.
Surprisingly, immediately after the end of the over, Pant was cautioned by the umpire Ian Gould for his remarks, when no such warning was given to Paine, who tried to distract Indian batsmen with banters for two consecutive days. Gould asked Pant to come to him and was seen having a word with him over his actions.
On Friday, Paine had joked about recruiting Pant to Hurricanes in order to try and distract him in the middle. “Big MS (Dhoni) is back in the one-day squad too, we might get him (Pant) down to the Hurricanes… we need a batter. Fancy that, Pantsy? Extend your little Aussie holiday. Beautiful town Hobart too, I’ll get you a nice apartment on the waterfront. (I’ll) have him over for dinner. Can you babysit? I’ll take the wife to the movies one night and you’ll look after the kids,” the Aussie captain was heard on the stump mic.
India declared for 106/8 in the second innings, setting Australia a target of 399 runs to chase at MCG. Australia are currently five wickets down in their pursuit of the target.
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