Watch! SKY scores a 50 for India in its warm up match as netizens rage at Rishabh Pant

Indian began their preparations for the 2022 T20 World Cup with a 13-run win on Monday. The game was played at WACA, Perth against Western Australia, and this was the first of two games between the two sides. It was a crucial game for India with the Australian pitches expected to have pace and bounce. Perth is the right venue for the Indian team to start off the warm up, as the pitches in these parts of the world are known to be spicy.

Rishabh Pant fails to fire –

Indian wicket keeper batter, Rishabh Pant may be turning heads in the test and ODI format, it is a different story in T20. In the game on Monday, Pant managed to score mere 9 runs off 16 balls after opening the innings for India. The 25 year old went for a wild hoick before he was dismissed.

Rohit falls for 3 as Hooda scores 22 –

Indian captain, Rohit Sharma was the 1st to go when he was dismissed for 3. Deepak Hooda who has been out of action due to injury made 22 off mere 14 balls. The form of the Indian captain too will be under the microscope heading into the big tournament.

Surya Kumar Yadav scores a crucial half century to help India reach 158 –

India had reached 73/3 at the half way mark, and the Indian team saw Surya Kumar Yadav continue his good run of form. SKY scored 52 off 36 balls with 3 fours and 3 sixes. Pandya scored an important 27 with the bat, to get into the groove. Dinesh Karthik played a crucial role with 16 not out as India posted 158 on the board.

Indian bowlers strike early as India win by 13 runs–

Having set 159 to win for the home team, Indian bowlers made early inroads to leave the WA side struggling at 29 for 4, with Arshdeep and Bhuvneshwar Kumar doing the early damage. Despite a few partnerships here and there, the Indian bowlers bowled well. WA needed 30 off the last over, as Harshal Patel gave away 16 runs to eke out a 13 run win.

Kohli, Rahul and Ashwin rested –

The Indian team decided to give Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Ravi Ashwin rest for the 1st Warm Up game on Monday. This was curious as Kohli and Rahul are one of the key players in the side.

Five big name cricketers’ part of the WA side –

Western Australia had Cameron Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Ashton Turner, D’Arcy Short and Jhye Richardson as a part of the line up. It was former Mumbai Indians pacer Behrendorff who got the wicket of Rohit Sharma for 3. Ashton Turner and Short like Beherendorff have played for Australia and also the IPL. Jhye Richardson is considered one of the most exciting pace prospects in Australia currently.

Twitter reacts to the performance by Pant –

Indian cricket fans did not spare the below par performance of Pant, as they took to twitter and lambasted the 25 year old. Even the BCCI wasn’t spared as the fans were vocal about Sanju Samson being ignored despite the poor performances by Pant in recent times in T20I’s for India. you can read all tweets below

Indian team which played the 1st warm up game against WA –

Rohit Sharma (Captain), Pant, SKY, Hooda, Hardik, Karthik, Axar, Harshal, Arshdeep, Chahal and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.