Duleep Trophy | Twitter in awe as Gill's exceptional diving take cuts Pant's first-class comeback short

09/05/2024

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Indians have for long been deprived of the opportunity to watch their best players clash head on in domestic cricket but the ongoing Duleep Trophy is bound to rectify that. The early signs presented themselves on Thursday when India A skipper Shubman Gill's running catch dispatched Rishabh Pant.

The Indian domestic season kicked off with aplomb in Bengaluru with the Duleep Trophy opener between India A and India B on a spicy deck at the Chinnaswamy stadium. The lush green pitch provided a fantastic opportunity for the India A pacers to stamp their authority after skipper Shubman Gill won the toss and chose to bowl first. Even though openers Abhimanyu Easwaran and Yashasvi Jaiswal remained steadfast in a 33-run opening stand, wickets soon began to tumble and the team were left reeling at 67/3 with Musheer Khan and Rishabh Pant at the crease. The latter, returning to first-class cricket after two years, began in emphatic fashion with a boundary but his attacking instincts led to his downfall, complete with some brilliance from Gill in the field.

Pant shuffled down the track on the second delivery of the 35th over and tried to dispatch Akash Deep down the ground with a flat-batter shot. However, he could only connect with the toe-end of his bat against the ball angling inwards and the red cherry soared high in the sky while travelling past the 30-yard circle. Gill, stationed at mid-on, was quick to anticipate the trajectory as he sprinted backwards with the ball coming over his shoulder, before timing a dive in front of him to perfection. The India A skipper was nearly parallel to the ground when the SG ball stuck in his extended palms and unsurprisingly celebrated the marvellous take with ectsacy while Pant stood his ground distraught.

The wicket-keeper batter had no option but to walk off the field for a paltry score of seven, sparking debate on Twitter over his potential return to the Test team after the extended break from red-ball cricket.

Gill showing his fitness level!!

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

Absolute blinder!

Blinder of a catch by Shubman Gill to get rid of Rishabh Pant. pic.twitter.com/3ZcAFskFMs
— psyf (@PsyfeR888) September 5, 2024

Spectacular

A spectacular diving catch from India A captain Shubman Gill running backwards ends Rishabh Pant's stay. A wild hoick across the line and the ball flew off the leading edge before Gill pulled off a blinder. Akash Deep proceeds to clean up Nitish Kumar the next ball

#DuleepTrophy pic.twitter.com/SZJejpvpWW
— Lalith Kalidas (@lal__kal) September 5, 2024

Gone

Rishabh Pant gone on 7 in 10 balls. pic.twitter.com/euf8FRfZEF
— Error-404🇵🇸🏴 (@Error_Koshur) September 5, 2024

Dismissed

Rishabh Pant dismissed for 7 in 10 balls. https://t.co/NoXQXiiMqa pic.twitter.com/bgQA9OjqyY
— 𝗥𝗼𝗵𝗶𝕥 𝗬𝗮𝗱𝗮𝕧🇮🇳 (@rohit_ydv96) September 5, 2024

LOL

Rishabh Pant when bowler is not Lyon and Leach. pic.twitter.com/AWtfb0jxSy
— Oggy🐉 (@meri_mrziii) September 5, 2024

Unlucky

Pant is so unlucky 🥲💔
— Ishu ke issues 🙂 (@Ajais2407) September 5, 2024

Catch bhoot op the bhayi subhnam ka aur koi hute toh chod deta pant ache touch me lag rhe the but unfortunately out
— SHASHANK NIRVAN (@ShashankNi23933) September 5, 2024

Sad