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India’s Test vice-captain Rishabh Pant, once again displayed his playful nature on the stump mic, giving a witty response to Mohammed Siraj during the second Test against England. The 27-year-old mocked Siraj after the bowler delivered a brutal bouncer that struck an English player on the helmet.

Mohammed Siraj showed off his grit and brilliance, with a remarkable six-wicket haul in India’s second Test against England at Edgbaston. The 31-year-old bounced back from a poor showing in the series opener, where he claimed only two wickets, by dismantling the English batting order. Siraj finished with impressive figures of 6/70 from his 19 over-spell, marking his fourth five-wicket haul in Test cricket.

However, Siraj was once playfully reprimanded by teammate Rishabh Pant for one of his deliveries. The incident happened in the 90th over of the innings. Siraj, who had just taken Josh Tongue’s wicket off the second ball of that over, delivering an lethal bouncer on his third ball to newcomer Shoaib Bashir. The ball struck the Englishman on the helmet, momentarily rattling him as he moved away from the pitch.

The pacer immediately apologized to Shoaib Bashir, and queried whether he was injured or not. Despite no apparent hard feelings between the bowler and batter after the apology, wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant interestingly approached Siraj and displaying his characteristic wit. Pant was caught on the stump mic playfully scolding Siraj for hitting Bashir and then apologizing, remarking, ‘Pehle maar raha hai, phir bol raha hai’ (First you hit him, then you talk to him).

Shoaib Bashir was dismissed off the very next ball of the over, as India bowled out England at 407 runs in 89.3 overs to take a 180-run lead. Siraj and Akash Deep, who spearheaded India’s bowling attack at Edgbaston in Jasprit Bumrah’s absence, secured all the ten wickets. The more experienced Mohammed Siraj proved particularly prolific, as four of his six dismissals in the first innings were ducks.

Meanwhile, for Rishabh Pant, who continued with his playful on-field antics, it was not the first time in the second Test that he was caught conversing on the stump mic. During his brief 47-run first innings stand with Shubman Gill, Pant was heard giving a clear instruction to his teammate about running between the wickets. Pant urged Gill to make a call before taking a run, explaining that the ball had lost its hardness, making it risky to go for quick singles.

Not just that, the 27-year-old wicket-keeper batter was also caught speaking to himself, while batting in Leeds. Rishabh Pant was seemingly urging himself to remain calm and avoid risky shots, as he later went on to hit two centuries in that same match.

Rishabh Pant, Priyansh Arya, Harshit Rana Among Players Retained Ahead of 2025 Delhi Premier League Season

Excitement for the upcoming second Delhi Premier League season is building after teams announced their player retentions ahead of auction. The 2025 season will expand to eight teams, two more than last year, with the additions of Outer Delhi Warriors and New Delhi Kings.

The DPL, known for nurturing young Indian talent, is set to kick off in the last week of July, with the player auction scheduled for July 5, 2025. Ahead of the auction, each team was allowed to retain one player. Among the players who have been retained, the most notable ones are Rishabh Pant, who has been retained by Purani Dilli, and Priyansh Arya, drafted by Outer Delhi Warriors. 

Apart from them, Harshit Rana has been retained by North Delhi Strikers, Ayush Badoni by South Delhi Superstarz and Anuj Rawat by East Delhi Riders. The list is rounded out by Himmat Singh (New Delhi Tigers), Ayush Doseja (West Delhi Lions), and Jonty Sidhu (Central Delhi Kings).

This article first appeared on FirstSportz and was syndicated with permission.

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