Pant torments England with a fiery 50, netizens welcome India's 'Spiderman' in ODI fold

Making way into the playing XI in the second ODI against England, power-hitter Rishabh Pant made his presence felt immediately as he smashed a fiery fifty to power the Indian innings. Known for his blitzkrieg, Pant survived two-out decisions before notching up a 26-ball half-century as the Men in Blue set eyes on a mammoth total for England to chase. The young gun has smoked five sixes and three fours at a strike rate of 190.00 in his innings so far. 

The second ODI also saw KL Rahul's form continue which he found in the previous game. The Karnataka-lad notched up his fifth ODI ton on Friday. Stitching a significant partnership with Kohli first and then Pant, Rahul anchored the Indian innings, scoring two maximums and seven boundaries at a brisk pace. Pant's blitz was quick enough to send Twitter into a frenzy as netizens stormed rushed to welcome back the youngster who missed the first ODI. Here's how netizens reacted: 

Kohli surpasses Tendulkar, Ponting 

Virat Kohli arrived at the crease after India lost their first wicket with just nine on the board. A while later, the skipper lost Rohit Sharma from the other end and was joined by No. 4 batsman KL Rahul. As Kohli continues to rescue India’s ship against England in Pune, he registered the 10,000th run of his career while batting at No.3 for his country in ODIs.

In doing so, Virat Kohli became only the third batsmen in the world to aggregate 10,000 runs at any given batting position in ODI cricket. Previously, former Indian captain Sachin Tendulkar and Australian World Cup-winning skipper Ricky Ponting scaled the 10,000-run mark while batting at No. 2 and No. 3 positions respectively. However, Kohli is the fastest among the three to get to the mark as he scored his 10,000th run in just his 190th innings at No. 3.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli's ton-less drought continued as he was dismissed for a well-made of 66 (79) in the second ODI vs England that is currently underway at the Maharasthra Cricket Stadium Association in Pune. The 32-year old has now gone 490 days without an international century with his last ton for India coming against Bangladesh in their first pink-ball Test in November 2019. Notably, Kohli's last century in the ODI format came 590 days ago against West Indies in August 2019.

Image Credits: BCCI