Pant's lean patch persists as Rest of India slump to 150/6 in Irani Cup opener
Pant's lean patch persists as Rest of India slump to 150/6 in Irani Cup opener
Rishabh Pant's worrying run of low scores showed no sign of ending on Thursday as the Rest of India captain and wicketkeeper was dismissed for just 10 runs against Jammu & Kashmir in the opening day of the Irani Cup at the Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium in Srinagar.
The India star, who faced 36 deliveries and struck a solitary boundary, attempted to take on medium-pacer Umar Nazir but only managed to slice the ball straight to Qamran Iqbal at short cover-point. Pant had stepped out of his crease and drifted towards the leg side in an attempt to smash the delivery through the covers, but he got only a thick outside edge that ended his stay at the crease.
Rest of India stumble after early promise
Pant's dismissal triggered a further slide for Rest of India, who soon lost Saransh Jain for 5 to Sahil Lotra. The left-arm spinner tossed the ball up, drew the batter forward with drift and turn, beat the outside edge and crashed into the off stump. With Jain's exit, Rest of India slipped to 150/6 after 51 overs, having lost six wickets in their first innings.
Shikhar Mohan was the only batter to reach a half-century for the Rest of India, while Sarfaraz Khan offered support with a useful 45. Sanat Sangwan (1) and Sudip Kumar Gharami (8) made little contribution at the top of the order.
Dogra's J&K opt to bowl first
Jammu & Kashmir, led by Paras Dogra, won the toss and chose to bowl first in the five-day fixture, which is being played in Srinagar from October 1 to 5. The home side's decision was rewarded with regular breakthroughs on a surface offering assistance to the bowlers.
Playing XIs
Jammu & Kashmir: Qamran Iqbal, Shubham Khajuria, Shubham Pundir, Abdul Samad, Paras Dogra (c), Kanhaiya Wadhawan (w), Sahil Lotra, Abid Mushtaq, Lone Nasir Muzaffar, Sunil Kumar, Umar Nazir Mir.
Rest of India: Sanat Sangwan, Sudip Kumar Gharami, Shikhar Mohan, Sarfaraz Khan, Smaran Ravichandran, Rishabh Pant (w/c), Saransh Jain, Manav Suthar, Akash Deep, Mukesh Kumar, Mukesh Choudhary.