Twitter explodes as Rishabh Pant replaces Dinesh Karthik at Trent Bridge

The ongoing Test series between England and India has turned out to be a nightmare for Dinesh Karthik. He is playing in the team in place of Wriddhiman Saha, who is recovering from a shoulder injury. Prior to the series, the Tamil Nadu-born cricketer scored a brilliant 82 in the first innings of India’s warm-up match against Essex at County Ground in Chelmsford.

However, the wicketkeeper-batsman has flattered to deceive thus far after the first two matches. He commenced the five-match series with a four-ball duck. Ben Stokes ran through his defense to shatter his stumps. In the second innings, during India’s endeavour to chase down 194 runs, he built a useful partnership of 34 runs along with Virat Kohli, the Indian captain.

Pant gets his opportunity

Unfortunately, he couldn’t carry on and fell prey to James Anderson’s probing line and length. The second Test at Lord’s turned out to be even more abysmal for him as he could manage only a single run in the entire match. Sam Curran rattled his woodwork in the first innings as Karthik perished for one run. He couldn’t open his account in the second innings and became Stuart Broad’s victim.

India are 2-0 down in the series and in a bid to resurrect their wretched fortunes, they were expected to make a few changes. The axe eventually came down on Karthik and Rishabh Pant, who earlier got his maiden Test call-up, will make his debut in the third Test at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. Pant was earlier with the India ‘A’ team in their tour of England and he didn’t disappoint.

He scored as many as five half-centuries in the List A and the first-class encounters against England Lions and Windies ‘A’. The Uttarakhand-born player also scored 34 runs against Essex in the practice match. In the meantime, Twitter showered their praises on the 20-year-old as he is all set to foray into the most demanding format of the sport.

Here is how Twitter reacted

Proud moment for young Rishabh Pant as he becomes the 291st player to represent #TeamIndia in Test cricket.#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/J1n045wgnF

— Ramalingam (@Ramalin06845480) August 18, 2018

Young Rishabh Pant gets the India cap. Congrats and best wishes young man!

— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) August 18, 2018

All the best to Rishabh Pant😍😍
Go well !! @RishabPant777

— Jogii ☄ (@priyanshu04_) August 18, 2018

Excited to see rishabh pant in tests he can be as effective as Adam gilchirst was….i don't expect anything from him in this series because Anderson and broad might be too skilful for him.

— The Gamechanger (@tarun_0707) August 18, 2018

18 August 2008.
Virat Kohli made his international cricket debut in ODI Vs SL at Dambulla.

18 August 2018.
Rishabh Pant makes his Test debut Vs England at Nottingham.

— Niharika Raina (@niharika_raina) August 18, 2018

So, As expected Rishabh Pant is debuting today!
This selection is an exciting one to watch!#ENGvIND

— Sai Veer (@SaiVeer07) August 18, 2018

Rishabh Pant Gets his Test Cap..

Best of Luck!

New Generation Kicks off #IndvsEng

— Sagar Gala (@sagargala1234) August 18, 2018

Rishabh Pant debut
He is only 20..thanks DK

— Mogambo ✪ ❄️ (@UberHandle) August 18, 2018

And it's official… Virat Kohli has presented Rishabh Pant his India Test cap. #EngvInd

— Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) August 18, 2018

In my opinion Karthik deserves a fair play. The 20-year-old Rishabh Pant is definitely a rousing catch but including him for the Trent Bridge after going 2 – 0 down in the series, he can wait. Let's see now!#ENGvIND

— 👑रमता जोगी👑 (@Brainy_Foam) August 18, 2018

@RishabPant777 ready to make his Test debut today, let's hope he has a great start and a wonderful career #INDvENG #ENGvIND #RishabhPant

— Ateet Sharma (@Ateet_Sharma) August 18, 2018

Happiness is seeing the first-ever cricketer I met in my life making his Test debut. Go well Rishabh Pant! @RishabPant777

— Niharika Raina (@niharika_raina) August 18, 2018

Rishabh Pant ko team me nahi lena chahiye tha, Kartik achha nahi khelta to ye to bol sakte the ki Pant rehta to aisa nahi hota #ENGvIND

— Laplace (@illogical_7) August 18, 2018

Rishabh Pant makes his debut, go well boy💗🔥

— Sakshi (@Viratcoverdriv) August 18, 2018

Rishabh Pant massss happens in this test #ENGvIND

— Pravi (@PraviRCBian) August 18, 2018

Rishabh Pant gets his test cap from Indian skipper Virat Kohli. He becomes the 291st Indian to play test cricket. #ENGvIND #GetStumped

— Stumped (@stumped_live) August 18, 2018

Rishabh Pant replaces Dinesh Karthik in the 3rd test at Trent Bridge. #ENGvsIND

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) August 18, 2018

Best wishes Rishabh pant. We look at you to Fill up the MSD option in test ckt.

— Anuj Tiwari (@krishnaaquatech) August 18, 2018

Excellent decision rishabh pant deserves this chance 👌🏼👏🏼🤗
Good luck to #TeamIndia #INDvENG #ENGvIND https://t.co/rQlL86kw0B

— jitz03 (@jitzvijan03) August 18, 2018

Great decision. Wishing Rishabh pant Nothing but a Success. He is young and fearless. He can counter attack on Anderson, Broad.

— STR Veriyan (@STR_AnnaVeriyan) August 18, 2018

Rishabh Pant gets chance into the team…. @RishabPant777 congratulations bro

— Sanjay (@SanjayOfficial1) August 18, 2018

@vikrantgupta73 @Ateet_Sharma @sports_tak Proud moment for young Rishabh Pant as he becomes the 291st player to represent #TeamIndia in Test cricket.#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/YSK9lBBaIg pic.twitter.com/pF1oYcznaC

— Abhinav Rai (@Abhinav9560) August 18, 2018

Rishabh Pant will make his debut this morning. Looks like Dhawan will replace Vijay and Bumrah for Kuldeep. #ENGvIND

— Gav Joshi (@Gampa_cricket) August 18, 2018

All the heart goes for #RishabhPant . Looking forward to see him today in the playingXI. #DKvsRishabhpanth #EngvsIndia

— simhadri sudheer (@SimhadriSudhee) August 18, 2018

I have a feeling that Rishabh Pant will score a century on his test debut, whenever he'll​ get a chance 🙌✌️#ENGvIND

— Tiilooo 2.0 (@KasamCinemaaki) August 18, 2018