"Has Rishabh Pant crossed 35?"
"Not yet."
Indian wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant has had a forgetful IPL 2020 season so far. Pant whose on-field antics and carefree batting style were once a rage during India-Australia series in 2019, has now become a source of daily memes for Internet trolls. Whether it is his shoddy work behind the stumps or constant failures with the bat in IPL, Pant is going through a rough patch and the fans have shown no sympathies for the cricketer. It doesn't help much that the Delhi Capitals' player has scored 285 runs in 12 games.
Thursday's Qualifier 1 match saw Delhi Capitals faltering at 0/3 while chasing the mighty target of 201 set by Mumbai Indians. While Marcus Stoinis (65 off 46) and Axar Patel (42 off 33) did manage to do some damage control, it was Pant's 3 (9) that was further mocked online.
While it's unfortunate that DC is yet to see the full potential of Pant, a troll page on Facebook is thriving on the very fact that Pant is dishing out lacklustre performances one after another this year.
Titled, "Daily updates on Pant crossing 35 runs in International cricket" the page delivers on its promises-- update you every time Pant crosses the score of 35 in a match. Now, if you've been in sync with this year's IPL, you'd know it hasn't happened a lot.
From last night's contest between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals.
Against Kings XI Punjab a couple of weeks back, Pant was at his vocal best behind the stumps but had a mixed bag with the gloves. From botching a run-out of Nicholas Pooran to missing quite a few straight forward takes, Pant returning from a hamstring injury looked rusty-- something which was heavily memed online.
Meanwhile, it's not all over for Delhi Capitals (and Rishabh Pant). Securing a second spot on the points table has given the franchise a second chance to prove their mettle in the Qualifier 2 where they will face the winner from the Eliminator contest between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday.