“Shades of MSD”: Rishabh Pant’s take on the “helicopter shot”

Rishabh Pant laid the foundation for India’s series-winning win over West Indies in the second T20I at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Friday. Pant, who failed to impress in the first T20I, scored an unbeaten 52 off just 28 balls. The wicketkeeper-batsman hit seven fours and a six, which caught the attention of the cricket fraternity. On the first ball of the 19th over of India’s innings, Pant hit a six on Jason Holder over deep square leg.

His shot reminded the commentator of former India captain MS Dhoni’s helicopter shot.

“Shades of MSD. Helicopter shot,” the commentator was heard saying.

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— maqbool (@im_maqbool) February 18, 2022

Fifties from Pant, Virat Kohli (52) and cameos from Venkatesh Iyer’s 33 runs took India to a total of 186 for 5.

India were first rocked by the wickets of Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan before even Suryakumar Yadav failed to continue his rich vein of form.

For West Indies, Roston Chase took three wickets while Sheldon Cottrell and Romario Shepherd took one wicket each.

Chasing the target of 187 runs, the West Indies team were 59 for two at one time after Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravi Bishnoi took one wicket each.

However, Nicholas Pooran and Rovman Powell took them closer to the finishing line. Powell remained unbeaten on 68 off 36 balls while Pooran was dismissed for 62.

In the end, West Indies lost by 8 runs and accepted the series.

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The visitors will now look to grab some glory in the third and final T20 International on Sunday.

Earlier in the ODI series, West Indies were clean sweep 0-3.