Mayank Agarwal Solves `Who`s Hand Is It` Mystery Behind 2019 World Cup Viral Picture Featuring Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni

This 2019 World Cup Photo keeps coming up every now and then on social media because of the `mystery hand` on Rishabh Pant`s shoulder. That mystery has now been solved by Mayank Agarwal.

During the 2019 ODI World Cup in England, a photo had gone viral, which had an element of mystery in it. The Indian cricketers post many photos on their social media accounts. But not all of these pics get talked about for as long as four years. The picture that we are talking about features was posted by Rishabh Pant and has him, former India captain MS Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah, Mayank Agarwal and Hardik Pandya in it.

The mystery element in this photo was the hand on shoulder of Pant. The fans could not comprehend whose hand it could be on Pant's shoulder as all other cricketers are standing at more than a shoulder's length from where Pant is. The photo gets shared again and again every now and then and the talking point is always the hand on the shoulder of Pant.

Indian wicketkeeper and batter Dinesh Karthik was asked the same question on X when he started an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session on the social media website. Dinesh said that this mystery can only be solved by Pant himself. But it was Mayank who helped solve the mystery. 

Mayank took to X and informed the world that it is his had on Pant's shoulder. Check his reply below.

Mayank wrote: "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 photo makes it hard to believe that it could be hand of any cricketer present in the photo. That's how the consipiracy theory of the 'mysterious hand' came out.

Pant was no part of the India's World Cup 2019 squad. He had been called in as replacement for injured Vijay Shankar, whose selection had created a big controversy, at that time as Ambati Rayudu was dropped to fit him in. 

The 25-year-old Pant is not part of the 2023 World Cup unfortunately because he is still to achieve full match fitness post his car accident in December last year. Pant is likely to take four months before he is back in the national colours and starts batting again in an official cricket match.