Video grab of Will Pucovski being dropped by Rishabh Pant in Sydney on Thursday.
Making his debut finally after it was delayed twice due to concussion injuries, Will Pucovski showed just why he deserves to don the Baggy Green cap as he played a sensible knock at the top with No. 3 Marnus Labuschagne to settle the Australian innings after David Warner's cheap dismissal on Day One of Sydney Test against India.
At the time of writing this article, the 22-year-old opener turned toast of the town with a half century on his debut as he edged closer to a 100-run stand with Labuschage after Warner fell for just 5 to Mohammed Siraj.
However, as Indian pacers were aware of his weakness against short deliveries with the batsman facing as many as nine concussion injuries in his nascent career meant Pucovski had to face barrage of short deliveries. The pressure got to him as he made two mistakes in space of three overs but to the horror of the Indian fans, the visitors failed to grab both the opportunities.
The blame in particular fell on Rishabh Pant, who dropped the rookie batsman on both the ocassions. Pucovski was first dropped at 26 off R Ashwin in the 22nd over when his reaction was too slow for a sharp edge of a quick delivery. Three overs later, Pant dropped him again when the young batsman edged a short delivery behind the stumps. The 23-year-old wicket-keeper did make a diving attempt to reach the ball but couldn't keep the hold of it.
Pucovski, who started walking back thinking he is out, was later declared not out by the third umpire after a review and the batsman lived on to hit his maiden half century on debut in style with a boundary through the cow corner.
