When Rishabh Pant sledged in junior cricket

From light-hearted tickles to savage (and sometimes ugly) exchanges between players, cricket is replete with tales of sledging. Harmless banter is quite a feature in any form of cricket - some are caught on the stump mic for the fans to hear, others find no record and are lost forever.

One such instance, that involves India's latest Test player, Rishabh Pant, was narrated by Vishnu Priyan, who was part of the Belagavi Panthers in the 2018 Karnataka Premier League.

While speaking to Sportskeeda, the Mysuru-born cricketer told how Pant, during his zonal days, tried to sledge Priyan, who had come out to bat with a very expensive bat.

"He was part of North Zone U-19 and I was playing for South Zone. When I went in to bat, everyone got to know that I was using a 50,000 rupee bat", Vishnu reminisced.

"So he started sledging '50,000 ke bat se kitna maarega, 5 run marega ki 50 maarega?' (How many runs will you score with a 50,000 rupee bat, 5 runs or 50?)"

"That was the funniest sledge I ever heard", he said, with a broad smile.

Pant went on to play for the India U-19 team and played the 2016 U-19 World Cup under Ishan Kishan's captaincy. Known for his six-hitting prowess, Pant was part of the Indian team in England recently, having made his debut at Trent Bridge as part of the ongoing third Test of the series.

Interestingly, Pant was himself at the receiving end of a verbal assault in England, with Stuart Broad serving him a rude remark after dismissing him during India's first innings. Playing his first Test innings, Pant edged a Broad delivery onto his own stumps and was sent back with a flurry of words.

In Australia, during India's historic win at Adelaide, Pant was at his chatty best behind the stumps, sending down a barrage of sledges to Pat Cummins during Australia's second innings. He also sledged Usman Khawaja in the first innings.

Stump mic on 🔊It’s cricket like never before, no commentary in the whole over 😮 #AUSvIND #foxcricket pic.twitter.com/8R2nwVMa9W

— Fox Cricket (@FoxCricket) December 10, 2018