India batsmen Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant were involved in a horrible mix-up during the first Test against New Zealand at the Basin Reserve on Tuesday.
In the 4th over of Day 2, Rahane dropped the ball near Ajaz Patel inside the circle and called for a single. Patel was slow to reach the ball, so there was enough time to complete a run. Rahane kept running, but Pant hesitated on the other end. Seeing Rahane coming towards him, Pant then ran to the striker’s end.
Patel took a feeble shy at the stumps as keeper BJ Watling had not reached the stumps to collect the ball. Somehow, the ball managed to clip just one bail of the stumps before Pant could make his ground. The left-hander had to walk back to the pavilion for 19.
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“Pant was trying to see where was the ball, which caused him the hesitation,” commentator Sanjay Manjrekar said while analyzing the batsman’s mistake. His fellow commentator Scott Styris added: ”You have to trust your partner. The disappointing bit of Pant not trusting Rahane.”
“If he had trusted his partner and just run, he would have made it. Ajaz is not the quickest of fielders. But he wanted to have a second look. His vision was blocked by the bowler. Rahane is someone you can trust at the other end,” Manjrekar added.
India were eventually bundled out for 165 in their first innings with Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson picking up four wickets each.
