Watch: Rishabh Pant hits MS Dhoni’s helicopter shot in 2nd T20I vs West Indies
To the delight of the fans, Rishabh Pant smashed a one-handed six, much similar to the helicopter shot that former India captain MS Dhoni made famous. The dugout was full of claps as Pant clobbered it during the second Twenty20 International match against West Indies in Kolkata.
The incident occurred in the first ball of the 18th over during India’s batting as Rishabh hit West Indies bowler Jason Holder over mid-wicket for a huge six.
Hitting six with one hand is art then Rishab pant is Picasso of it !#IndvsWIpic.twitter.com/KGBgYzlV9E
— ᴊᴀᴄᴋ ꜱᴩᴀʀʀᴏᴡ 🇮🇳🇮🇳 (@Jacksparrow9807) February 18, 2022
Virat Kohli was back among runs with a fifty while Rishabh Pant smashed a quick-fire unbeaten 52 to lift India to a challenging 186 for five.
Chasing their 100th T20I win, India, early on, were guided Kohli who took charge of the proceedings after Roston Chase exposed the Indian middle order. Kohli hit his 30th fifty in the shortest format, his first since the 57 versus Pakan in the T20 World Cup on October 24 last year.
Chase was impressive in the middle overs to return with 3/25 and which included the wickets of Rohit Sharma (19) and Suryakumar Yadav (8). Thereafter it was Pant and Venkatesh Iyer (33 from 18 balls) show on offer as they took charge on the likes of Kieron Pollard and Romario Shepherd in their 76-run partnership from 35 balls.
Pant (52 off 28 balls) brought up his third fifty in T20Is with a double in the penultimate delivery of the innings, taking just 27 balls to get to the milestone.
Earlier India got off to a slow start with Sheldon Cottrell bowling four dots on the trot before dismissing Ishan Kishan in the second over of the day. Kishan, who was the most expensive buy of the IPL 2022 mega auction, looked lless and under pressure to continue his poor form and departed for two after his 10-ball stay.
Kohli was the aggressor and skipper Rohit was happy to play the second fiddle as the duo took India’s score to almost 50 in the first six overs. There was a clear shift in India’s batting in the powerplay as the duo were not afraid to take the aerial route.
Rohit departed for 19 in 18 balls after a fine partnership with Kohli that yielded 49 runs from 36 balls before Chase gave the breakthrough in his first over removing the Indian skipper after inducing a thick leading edge to be caught at the point.
In his next over, Chase accounted for Suryakumar to expose India’s middle over but Kohli ensured that there was no further damage.
