It took Rishabh Pant reportedly less than 10 minutes to delete his Instagram story but that time, as social media users would know, was enough for the screenshots to go viral. While there is no confirmation whether Pant had actually posted the story or not but the screenshot which has taken social media by storm reads: "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 "merapichachorhoBehen #Jhutkibhilimithotihai." Multiple social media users said the story was in response to bollywood actress Urvashi Rautela's recent interview in which she talked about a person named "Mr RP."
"I was shooting in Varanasi, wahan se I had a show in New Delhi, toh meri wahaan se Delhi ki flight thi. (I had a show in New Delhi so I had to take flight from Varanasi). In New Delhi, I was shooting full day and after about 10 hours of shooting when I went back, I had to get ready and you know that girls take a lot of time to get ready. Mr. RP came, he sat in the lobby and waited for me, and he wanted to meet. Main itni tired thi, main so gayi (I was so tired that I dozed off) and I didn’t realize that I had received so many calls," Rautela said in an interview with Bollywood Hungama.
"So, when I woke up, I saw 16-17 missed calls and then I 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," she added.
While Rautela did not directly name anyone, netizens were convinced that the ‘Mr RP’ in her story was India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant.
Here's how Twitter reacted to the whole Rishabh Pant-Urvashi Rautela saga
Notably, this is not the first time Rishabh Pant and Urvashi Rautela have been linked. There were multiple unconfirmed reports about the cricketer and the actress being in touch.
Pant recently returned to India after a successful tour of West Indies, where India beat the hosts 3-0 in ODIs and 4-1 in T20Is. The left-hander was not a part of the ODI side but was there for the five-match T20I series. Pant will next be seen in action in the Asia Cup beginning on August 27 in the UAE. India, however, start their campaign a day later against arch-rivals Pakistan in Dubai.