Rishabh Pant faces flak over poor DRS calls in Bumrah's absence on Day 4 of IND vs ENG

The Day 4 of the 5th Test match between England and India at the Edgbaston Stadium ended with the hosts standing at 259/3 in the 4th innings, with former skipper Joe Root on the crease, chasing a target of 378 runs. Root continues to bat on the individual score of 76* runs in 112 balls, having survived a few DRS calls, wrongly taken by India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, in the absence of stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah. Meanwhile, Pant is currently facing criticism from cricket enthusiasts for his poor DRS calls, which could have been avoided on Day 4.

Pant took two back-to-back DRS reviews in the space of two overs in the 4th innings, while Bumrah went off the field after completing a long spell. Interestingly, both the DRS were used against Root, and Bumrah returned to the pitch in the over that followed and decided against reviewing an appeal by Mohammed Shami. Pant took the 1st review after Jadeja convinced him to go for it, but the replays showed the ball was pitching outside leg.

Similarly, the 2nd DRS was used, an over later as this time Shami convinced Pant to take the review. However, the hawkeye showed that the ball wouldn’t have hit the stumps. In the very next over, Bumrah made his way back to the field and decided not to review Shami’s appeal, which turned out to be right. 

How did the fans react to Rishabh Pant's wrong DRS calls?

Cricket fans in India on social media were furious with Pant for his poor decision-making skills while revealing their disappointment with him. “Only thing #RishabhPant needs to improve is his DRS skills. He is simply horrible at it. #ENGvIND #DRS,” a fan wrote on Twitter. At the same time, trolling Pant, another fan said, “What if Rishabh Pant becomes an umpire in the future,” with a few laughing emojis. 

“@RishabhPant17 needs to understand that DRS counts are limited. If a wicket-keeper is not confident in taking review, he should become over-smart. @msdhoni,” another fan said. Fans also tweeted memes describing Bumrah’s situation after losing the DRS reviews.

England look solid in their 4th innings chase of Edgbaston Test

Meanwhile, Pant scored 57 runs off 86 runs in the 3rd innings, while India were bowled out on 245 runs. Cheteswar Pujara’s 66 off 168 balls was the highest knock for India in the innings. Courtesy of the brilliant bowling display, England had the task of chasing 378 runs in the fourth innings, which they are doing pretty well till now.

(Image: BCCI/@indiancricketteam/Instagram)