Team India wicketkeeper and Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant’s comeback in four-day domestic cricket was limited to 10 balls on Thursday (September 5) in the Duleep Trophy 2024 match. It took a brilliant diving catch from India ‘A’ captain Shubman Gill to dismiss India ‘B’ wicketkeeper for 7 off the bowling of Akash Deep.
The Bengal pacer forced Pant to sky a ball towards mid-off where Gill picked up a brilliant catch over his shoulders, running towards long-off to dismiss Pant for 7.
What a Catch! & What a Ball!
moments of brilliance in balls
Shubman Gill pulls off a stunning catch to dismiss Rishabh Pant & then Akash Deep bowls a beauty to dismiss Nithish Kumar Reddy#DuleepTrophy | @IDFCFIRSTBank
Follow the match https://t.co/eQyu38Erb1 pic.twitter.com/80Cpgat3nF
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) September 5, 2024
Gill’s catch soon went viral on social media. Akash Deep struck a double blow for India ‘A’ after lunch on opening day of the Duleep Trophy 2024 match, dismissing Pant and then Nitish Reddy for duck off the first ball to reduce India ‘B’ to 80 for 5 from 63 for 2 at lunch. All-rounder Washington Sundar was run-out for 0 as India ‘B’ slipped to 89 for 6 in the 40th over.
Pant is the designated wicketkeeper for India ‘B’, and it is evident that the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel is intending to take a deep look into his role as the wicketkeeper-batter in a season that will culminate with the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 Final at the Lord’s next June.
The front-runner for Dhruv Jurel (India ‘A’), who was impressive in his debut series against England earlier this year. The Duleep Trophy 2024 match was Pant’s first red-ball cricket match since 2022, when he scored 93 in a Test match against Bangladesh in Dhaka.
Pant was involved in a horrific car crash in December 2022 and was sidelined from international cricket for almost a year. The Delhi wicketkeeper-batter made a comeback in T20I cricket this year and took part in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 followed by the victorious T20 World Cup 2024 campaign.
