New Zealand whitewashed India. Rishabh Pant stood alone against the Kiwi bowlers and tried his best to wrap up the three-match test series for his team to 1-2. Rishabh’s heroic innings came to an end in a controversial manner.

New Zealand clenched the series before the last Test match in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, by two consecutive wins in Bengaluru and Pune. Senior batters from team India like captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli failed to impress with their batting performance. Like the rain interrupted the first Test match in Bengaluru, Rishabh Pant again stood tall against the Blackcaps in Mumbai as well. India’s hope to win the third match alive until Pant got out. That was a long, lone walk for Rishabh Pant. He missed a century by a rune in Bengaluru and now got back to the pavilion with a controversial decision taken by the third umpire.

Rishabh Pant, who misjudged Ajaz Patel’s delivery, failed to meet the ball with a bat. The ball goes straight to wicketkeeper Tom Blundell, and he shouts for wicket. Ajaz also applied to the umpire. But umpires remained unmoved, which led to DRS. Overturning the on-file umpires decision, the 3rd umpire awarded New Zealand Pant’s wicket. There was a clear little spike in snickometer, which created controversy among cricket fans and experts.

Former South African cricketer AB De Villiers said on social media, “Little grey area once again! Did Pant get batted on that or not? Problem is, when the ball passes the bat at exactly the same time a batter hits his pad, Snicko will pick up the noise. But how sure are we [that] he hit it?”

Captain Rohit Sahrma, stunned about the incident, said after the match, “Honestly, I don’t know. If we say something, it’s not accepted well. But if there is no conclusive evidence, it has to stand with the on-field decision. That’s what I have been told. I don’t know how that decision was overturned, since the umpire didn’t give him out.”

It was a tough time for Rishabh Pant as well. He injured his left knee, then came to bat in the second innings of the first Test match and scored 99 of 105 balls in the innings. In the second inning of the 2nd test match, a miscommunication with Virat Kohli caused a runout for Rishabh Pant. In the 3rd match, Pant batted brilliantly in both innings, scoring 60 and 64, respectively, but did not manage to grab the much-needed victory before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.