ENG vs IND | Twitter in awe as Jofra Archer sends Rishabh Pant’s off-stump cartwheeling

‌Rishabh Pant walked in to bat, amid loud applause and ovations, after the fall of two wickets in the morning session of the fourth Test against England at Old Trafford in Manchester. The Indian vice-captain braved a fractured foot, which he suffered the previous day against Chris Woakes to limp into the centre.

India were placed at 314/6 with Jofra Archer dismissing Ravindra Jadeja in the second over of the day and Ben Stokes taking out Shardul Thakur to break the 48-run partnership for the sixth wicket. With the visitors looking to put a formidable first-innings score, the wicketkeeper put his body on the line to resume his overnight innings.

Pant held one end up despite being unable to rotate strike but India lost two quick wickets from the other end. The southpaw, then, decided to take the aggressive route with a six off Archer and brought up his fifty with a cover drive of Stokes the next over.

However, Archer had his man in the third ball of his next over squaring up Pant with a beauty. Coming from around the wicket, the pacer angled one into the batter which moved away late after pitching on a length.

Though Pant tried to defend, the red cherry beat his bat to crash on top of off-stump. The timber cartwheeled before landing near the wicketkeeper to resemble a javelin ending the batter’s brave stay at the crease.

Archer was chuffed as he pumped his fist before kicking the stump out of the turf. Twitter was in awe of the speedster’s speed and accuracy that saw the southpaw walking back amid huge cheers from the crowd.