IPL 2021 – Rishabh Pant nearly takes out DK’s head with reverse bat swipe; laughs it off later
India and Delhi Capitals (DC) wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant is one of the biggest characters of the game. A funny incident is never far off when Pant is around. And on Tuesday (September 28), the cricketer added another instance to his rich legacy of humour and fun as he almost hit opposition gloveman Dinesh Karthik unintentionally with a flash of his willow.
Playing against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Match 41 of the IPL 2021 in Sharjah, Pant swiped his bat to try and ensure the ball doesn’t fall back onto his stumps after bouncing onto the turf as he inside-edged a delivery from mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy.
However, as he went for the reverse flick of his willow, Pant missed the cricket ball and almost hit Karthik on his helmet while the keeper was in his motion, going forward to collect the ball. Thankfully for him, Pant didn’t just miss the ball but also his head and a potential major concussion injury was avoided.
Also Read: Seven Times Rishabh Pant Didn’t Need Cricketing Skills To Entertain Us On The Field
Rishabh Pant has always been one of a funny streak.
Rishabh Pant nearly hits Dinesh Karthik on his helmet
The incident is from the first ball of the 17th over of the DC innings. Batting on 21 at the time, Pant tried to smash a delivery Chakravarthy very hard but could only inside edge it onto the surface.
Seeing the ball bounce in front of him, Pant feared that he could be in for an unfortunate dismissal if it somehow fell on the stumps. Hence, the left-hander went for a last-minute swipe with the bat.
However, Pant completely missed the ball and moved his bat shockingly close to the head of Karthik, who was focusing only on the ball and waiting to collect it as the delivery from Chakravarthy came to a close.
Much to his and everyone’s surprise, though, Pant made that sudden flick with his bat and almost hit his helmet, missing it by a very tiny gap.
What helped was that even Karthik took his head out of the way at the very last moment and dropped down on the ground.
— Jabjabavas (@jabjabavas) September 28, 2021
Recognising his mistake, Pant immediately apologised to Karthik and, typical of him, shared a laugh with his India teammate and senior gloveman.
Initially fearing for the worst, even the commentators now saw the funny side of things as the great Sunil Gavaskar wondered from the commentary box if we just saw some “WWF kind of stuff.”