Rishabh Pant shares insights on the high-octane clash between India and Pakistan, appreciating the crowd’s spirited slogans like ‘Tel Laga ke Dabur Ka wicket girao Babar ka’. He also recalls sledging Virat Kohli during an IPL 2024 match, adding an intriguing perspective to the game.
Rohit Sharma’s Team India will take on arch-rivals Pakistan at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York today. It will be the first Super Eight clash between the neighbours and their first international match since last year’s ODI World Cup.
With emotions running high ahead of the high-octane clash, Indian cricketer Rishabh Pant was asked what he thought of the crowd chanting slogans like ‘Tel Laga ke Dabur Ka wicket girao Babar ka’ (Appy Dabur oil and get Babar’s wicket).
The left-hander explained that these slogans make the game of cricket interesting, while noting that the Pakistani players are also trying to do the right thing for their team.
Speaking to India TV’s Rajat Sharma, Pant said, “I can only say this as a player, they (Pakistani cricketers) also toil hard for their country and it becomes interesting when emotions come together from country India and country Pakistan. As you said, fans also set a narrative like a slogan ‘Tel Lagao Dabur Ka, Wicket Girao Babar Ka’, all these things make the match quite interesting.’
Rishabh Pant opens up about sledging Virat Kohli:
During the course of the interaction, Pant also opened about him sledging RCB opener and veteran batter Virat Kohli during an IPL 2024 match.
“It happened during the RCB game. I was banned without doing anything. I tried a lot to prevent it but it was uncontrollable, not in my hands. Sitting outside I thought I’ll disturb the mindset or something because the RCB dressing room is right behind the sightscreen. At first I did not know. I thought they are calling their own teammates. Then when I realised, I thought I might as well tease him a little more. I didn’t give him the chance to say anything because I escaped,’ Pant explained.
