"Do you babysit?" - 3 times opposition players disrupted Rishabh Pant's concentration

Team India's wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant is known to be quite chirpy behind the stumps. He, on several occasions, has managed to get under the skin of the opposition with his antics.

However, there have been instances where other players have given Pant a taste of his own medicine by interfering with his ability to focus. The swashbuckling batter has at times gotten carried away due to on-field chatter.

While the talented youngster has achieved some success by adopting psychological warfare, he has been on the receiving end as well.

Here, we take a look at the instances when opposition players were able to get the better of Rishabh Pant with their verbal volleys.

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#3 Tim Paine and Rishabh Pant at Melboune Cricket Ground (2018)

The banter between Rishabh Pant and Tim Paine is considered one of the highlights of India's 2018-19 Australian tour by many. The incident took place during the Boxing Day Test between the two cricketing giants.

When Pant was at the crease, the former Aussie Test skipper tried to sledge him by asking if the Indian keeper could babysit for him. He also reminded the youngster that MS Dhoni was back in India's one-day side.

The stump mic captured Paine saying:

"Tell you what big MS is back in the one-day squad. Should get this bloke down to Hurricanes...They need a batter. Fancy that extend your Aussie holiday, beautiful town Hobart too... get him a waterfront apartment.

"Do you babysit? I'll take the wife to the movie one night, you look after the kids."

Speaking about the incident on Fox Sports, Paine had stated that the Australian team had assessed that there was no point in sledging Pant as he seemed to be unpeturbed by it. He added that he resorted to banter in an attempt to make the left-hander play a loose shot.

He explained:

"Well, Ricky (Ponting) knows him quite well - one, he's very, very good, but two, we found out early in that series that sledging him was a waste of time. It just didn't bother him, but what we found was that you could get a real lapse of concentration out of him so we went a bit that way.

"So, I just tried to put him off and talk rubbish to try and get him involved because he was likely to play a poor shot at time. But he's a seriously talented player."

Notably, Pant was spotted with Paine's kids in Sydney after the Test match. The Aussie wicketkeeper's wife took to her Instagram account to share a photo of Pant with her kids and captioned it as 'best babysitter'.

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#2 Ollie Robinson and Rishabh Pant at Headingley (2021)

Ollie Robinson dismissed Rishabh Pant on multiple occasions during India's tour of England in 2021. The right-armer was all fired up while bowling to the dynamic batter during the third fixture of the Test series at Headingley.

Robinson tried to intimidate the Indian batter when he was at the crease during India's first innings. Pant ultimately edged one to the keeper and had to take the long walk back after managing just two runs.

Robinson gave Pant a passionate send-off and the dismissal was followed by a wild uproar. The hosts bundled out Virat Kohli and Co. for a paltry score of 78 and ultimately secured a comprehensive victory in the encounter.

Watch the video here:

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#1 Rassie van der Dussen and Rishabh Pant at Johannesburg (2022)

South Africa's Rassie van der Dussen seemingly riled up Rishabh Pant while the latter was batting during the second Test match in Johannesburg earlier this year. Dussen appeared to have taunted the Indian keeper regarding a disputed catch that he took the previous day.

Pant was visibly frustrated with the comments and asked the fielder to shut his mouth. However, there was a lapse in concentration on the batter's part post the banter.

Pant advanced down the track against Kagiso Rabada as he looked to hit a lofted shot on the leg side. He didn't get the connection right and edged it straight to the keeper.

The southpaw received flak from all quarters for the rash shot as he was dismissed for a three-ball duck.

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