Cricketer Rishabh Pant is in news for deleting his Instagram story, in which he reportedly took a jibe at actor Urvashi Rautela. Pant deleted the story on his social media handle within 10 minutes, but that was enough for his eagle-eyed followers and other users to take a screenshot and post it on social media. In the post the 24-year-old wrote about people "who lie in interviews" and are "thirsty for fame". It soon went viral and started a discussion on social media.
According to the screenshots posted on Twitter and other social media platforms, Pant wrote in his Instagram story, "It's funny how people lie in interviews just for some meagre popularity and for hitting the headlines. Sad how some people are so thirsty for fame and name. May God bless them." He added hashtags like #merapichachorhoBehen #Jhutkibhilimithotihai.
His followers claimed the reference is to Ms Rautela, who talked about a person named "Mr RP" in a recent interview. The clip too has been gaining traction since the Pant episode happened.
In the interview, Ms Rautela is heard talking about an old incident in which one "Mr RP" waited for a very long time to meet her but she couldn't meet him because of her hectic schedule. "I was shooting in Varanasi, wahan se I had a show in New Delhi, toh meri wahaan se Delhi ki flight thi (from there I had a show in New Delhi so I had to take flight from Varanasi). In New Delhi, I was shooting full day and came back in night and quickly I had to get ready because, you know, that girls take a lot of time to get ready. So Mr RP came and was waiting in the (hotel) lobby, like he wanted to meet. I had already spent 10 hours and was so tired that I dozed off. I didn't realise that I had received so many calls," the actor said.
The interviewer asked Ms Rautela who "Mr RP" is but she refused to "take the name".
She continued, "When I woke up, I saw 16-17 missed calls and felt so bad - that someone was waiting for me and I didn't go. Out of respect, because a lot of girls don't care about making someone wait, out of that show of respect, I told him that let's meet when you'll come to Mumbai. After that he came to Mumbai and all that drama with the paps happened."
Social media users are, however, convinced that the man she was talking about is Rishabh Pant.
He has emerged as one of India's biggest match-winners in recent years. Though Pant shot to fame for his performance in the T20 format in the Indian Premier League for Delhi Capitals, his Test record has brought him a lot of acclaims.
In 31 Tests, he has scored 2,123 runs at an average of 43.32. In 27 One-Day Internationals (ODIs), Pant has scored 840 runs in 27 matches with an average of 36.52.