Mayank Agarwal finally puts end to wild ‘conspiracy theories’ over viral 2019 World Cup picture featuring Pant, Dhoni
When India were in England for the World Cup in 2019, a picture featuring MS Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah, Mayank Agarwal, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya had created quite the sensation on the internet. Now, for players to get pictures clicked and posting them on Instagram is common, right? But this photo brought along a certain share of mystery which took as many as four years to get solved. The picture, posted on Hardik’s social media with the caption ‘Boys’s day out’, caught all five cricketers in a good mood but what fans couldn’t help but notice was somebody’s hand around Pant’s shoulders
It was Mayank Agarwal’s hand on Rishabh Pant’s shoulder after all.(Hardik Pandya/Twitter)
The picture posted on July 4, two days before India’s win over Bangladesh in Birmingham and a couple of days following a victory over Sri Lanka at Leeds, soon went viral as users on the internet went crazy scratching their heads to debunk solve the query ‘Whose hand is it on Pant’s shoulders?’ Dhoni hands were clearly visible while Bumrah’s left hand was on MSD’s shoulders. So whose was it on Pant’s?
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The puzzle was finally solved by Agarwal himself as he took to X (formerly Twitter) to end the suspense. “After years of extensive research, debates, and countless conspiracy theories, let the nation finally know: It is MY hand on @RishabhPant17’s shoulder. PS: Any and all other claims are misleading and not true,” the India batter wrote.
Agarwal, initially omitted from India’s 2019 World Cup squad, was called in as a replacement for the injured Vijay Shankar. After the India all-rounder played three matches – against Pakistan, Afghanistan and West Indies – Shankar has suffered a foot injury, which was later revealed to be a ‘non-displaced fracture of the left big toe, which will require a minimum of three weeks to heal’. On July 1, the ICC approved Agarwal as his replacement.
Pant himself was a late addition in India’s World Cup squad, replacing an injured Shikhar Dhawan. Originally left out of the 15-member unit, Pant’s omission was received with a lot of public backlash, but after Dhawan fractured his wrist during the game against Australia, the doors opened for Pant. He joined the team and played his first match against England, scoring 32, and followed it with scores of 48 against Bangladesh, 4 against Sri Lanka ands 32 against New Zealand in the semifinal.
