Gavaskar slammed Pant for throwing away his wicket when India were in dire straits.
After India resumed their innings on 164/5, Pant along with Ravindra Jadeja frustrated the Aussies with dodged resistance. However, the wicketkeeper-batter lost his way all of a sudden.
A ball after getting hit on the ribs while attempting a falling flick of Scott Boland's bowling, Pant went for the same shot despite Australia having fine leg, square leg and third man back on the boundary. As it turned out, he ended up getting a top edge to third man, losing his wicket for 28.
Rishabh Pant’s shot selection left Gavaskar infuriated, prompting him to say that the southpaw should not even think about returning to the Indian dressing room and rather go to Australia’s.
"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! You've got two fielder there and you still go for that. You've missed the previous shot and look where you've been caught. You've 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 is your natural game. I am sorry that is not your natural game. That is a stupid shot. That is letting your team down badly. He should not be going in that (Indian) dressing room, he should be going into the other dressing room," Gavaskar said on ABC Sport.
After Pant and Jadeja (17) got out in quick succession, Nitish Kumar Reddy joined forces with Washington Sundar. The pair executed a commendable rescue act for the visiting side, taking them past the 300-run mark in response to Australia’s first innings score of 474.
India were 326/7 at Tea on Day 3, with Nitish (85) and Sundar (40) unbeaten in the middle, trailing the hosts by 148 runs.