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Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar criticises Rishabh Pant for his unorthodox shot that led to his dismissal on the third morning of the MCG Test between Australia and India.
Pant had looked fluent, racing to 28 off 37 balls after he and Ravindra Jadeja resumed India’s innings from an overnight 164/5.
The pair had nearly survived the first hour of play when Pant, attempting a scoop shot from outside off to the leg side off Scott Boland, ended up sending a straightforward leading-edge catch to deep third. Gavaskar questioned the timing and execution of the shot, which ultimately proved costly for India.
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Sunil Gavaskar criticises Rishabh Pant
“I think earlier on, when there had been no fielders around, that’s when he’s attempted these shots, that is understandable because you’re taking a very good chance,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports during the lunch break.
“That [the shot] was supposed to go to the leg side, that went to the off side, it actually tells you maybe [there was] a little bit of bad luck involved, but terrible selection of a shot to play at that particular point with two fielders down at deep square-leg and deep point.”
Pant had attempted a similar shot on the previous ball in the 56th over off Boland, but had inside-edged it onto his body after losing his balance. He connected slightly better on the next delivery, but still couldn’t control the shot, hitting the ground again before holed out to Nathan Lyon. At the time of his dismissal, India were 191/5, still trailing by 283 runs. However, with Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar leading the recovery, India managed to get into a much stronger position as the day progressed.
“It just appears to be that that’s the only way he thinks he’s capable of scoring runs,” Gavaskar said. “So if he’s not going to be able to score runs the orthodox way, if he’s only thinking that he’s going to go down the pitch, hammering the ball over long-on, or just looking to play these shots, which means at the Test level you can’t always succeed. Then you have got to be prepared for the fact that he will get you some runs sometimes. If that is the case, then he cannot bat at No. 5, he’s got to bat down the order.”
Pant often scores a significant portion of his runs through unorthodox and aggressive shots. However, Gavaskar pointed out that with two fielders stationed deep specifically for that type of shot, Pant should have been more cautious and selective in his approach.
Gavaskar, who was providing live commentary on ABC Radio at the time of Pant’s dismissal, said the wicket was a major setback for India, criticizing Pant for “letting the team down badly” by “throwing away” his wicket.
“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” was Gavaskar’s immediate reaction. “You’ve got two fielders there, and you still go for that, you’ve missed the previous shot. And look where you’ve been caught. You’ve been caught at deep third man. That is throwing away your wicket. Not in the situation that India was. You have to understand the situation as well, you cannot say that that’s your natural game. I’m sorry, that is not your natural game. That is a stupid shot. That is letting your team down badly!”
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