Rishabh Pant drops Will Pucovski a couple of times as his wicket-keeping struggle continues

Rishabh Pant gave batsman Will Pucovski two lifelines after dropping his catch on Day 1 of the Sydney Test. The Indian wicket-keeper first left Pucovski's catch of Ashwin's bowling. He then again dropped another a few overs later. Pant's dropped catches have once also emphasised his deficiencies as a Test wicket-keeper.

The first instance happened on the last ball of the 22nd over when Ravichandran Ashwin was bowling to Will Pucovski. The 34-year-old beat Pucovski with a beautiful delivery, as it was straight after pitching outside off. The Aussie batsman managed to nick the ball as he played for the turn. It looked like the wicket-keeper would complete a routine dismissal. However, the wicket-keeper dropped a regulation catch. Ashwin was visibly distraught with the wicket-keeper. The spinner began celebrating the wicket for a moment before finding out that Pant left the catch.

Rishabh Pant drops Pucovski as few overs later once again

As if dropping the first catch of Will Pucovski, Rishabh Pant made a mess of the second chance a few overs later. The visitors thought they had dismissed Pucovski as a well-targeted Mohammed Siraj bouncer hit the Australian on the glove. However, Pant completed the catch running backwards. Although the original signal was out, the replay showed that Rishabh Pant had dropped the catch.

Before picking the ball in his second attempt, the wicket-keeper missed holding onto the ball for the first time. However, the ball had already touched the ground, and Will Pucovski's luck on his debut continued.

The two big mistakes by Rishabh Pant will once again put forward the discussions regarding his wicket-keeping abilities. With Pant dropping the dangerous Pucovski twice, his mistakes will leave cricket fanatics and experts wondering what might have been if he held onto the chances.

Pucovski hit back-to-back boundaries to Navdeep Saini to reach his debut half-century. Later, in the final session, Saini managed to trap Pucovski in the front and claimed his wicket. The Australian opening batsman ended up scoring 62 off 110 balls. His innings also included four boundaries.

Will Pucovski also shared a crucial 104-run partnership with Marnus Labuschagne. The batsman said that it was fantastic to bat with the senior pro. Victoria Coach Andrew McDonald presented the Baggy Green debut cap to Will. Both Pucovski and Labuschagne hit half-centuries as Australia at Stump's finished at 166/2 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

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