‘That missed stumping tells all I need to know’ - Sanjay Manjrekar's old tweet resurfaces following Rishabh Pant's stellar wicketkeeping display against Sri Lanka

Rishabh Pant was at his destructive best during the recently-concluded Test series against Sri Lanka, which India won 2-0. The southpaw made his bat talk and slammed 185 runs in three innings. Moreover, his strike rate was over 120 as most of the Lankan bowlers looked utterly clueless against him. Pant was exceptional behind the stumps as well and his heroics earned him the Player-of-the-Series award.

It must be noted that Pant’s wicketkeeping skills has been a subject of debate in the cricket circle in recent years. While his destructive batting has taken India to some memorable wins, his mistakes behind the stumps has also cost the team at times. Nonetheless, the 24-year-old has worked on his glovework as he took some find catches and also executed some smart stumpings against Sri Lanka.

When Rishabh Pant  gave a lifeline to England’s Jack Leach

Meanwhile, an old tweet of Sanjay Manjrekar resurfaced on social media soon after Pant bagged the Player-of-the-Series award against the Lankan Lions. The former Indian cricketer had taken a dig at Pant’s glovework during India’s home Test series against England last year. The wicketkeeper had missed an easy-looking opportunity to stump Jack Leach off Ravichandran Ashwin’s bowling.

The southpaw even gathered the ball but fumbled at the last moment, giving the England batter a lifeline. Pant’s fault had drawn a lot of flak from netizens back then and Manjrekar expressed his views as well. He even stated that Pant’s mistake tells a lot about his wicketkeeping skills. “Everyone misses stumping. Even great keepers do but the way Pant missed that stumping of Leach off Ashwin tells me all I need to know about Pant the keeper,” Manjrekar had tweeted.

Everyone misses stumping. Even great keepers do but the way Pant missed that stumping of Leach off Ashwin tells me all I need to know about Pant the keeper.

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) February 7, 2021

As Pant was brilliant behind the stumps against the Lankan Lions, this tweet of Manjrekar resurfaced as netizens trolled him for his claim. Meanwhile, Pant, after bagging the honour, revealed that he has been working on his skills and the same paid off against Sri Lanka. “I think both (batting and keeping), you need to keep evolving, I’ve made mistakes in the past and want to keep improving,” he said.