India opener Rohit Sharma faced a lot of flak for his dismissal during the second session on Day 2 of the ongoing fourth Test against Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane.
Rohit was looking ominous but he threw his wicket away for 44 while trying to dominate off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar slammed Rohit, saying it's an "irresponsible" shot from a seasoned campaigner like the Indian vice-captain.
"Why? Why? Why? That's an unbelievable shot. That's an irresponsible shot," Gavaskar said while commentating for Channel 7.
"You've just hit a boundary a couple of deliveries earlier, why would you play that shot? You're a senior player, there's no excuse, absolutely no excuse for this shot.
"An unnecessary wicket, gifted away."
Endorsing Gavaskar's remarks, former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting has called on Rohit to "be better" after he gifted away another big scoring opportunity.
Rohit had hit some glorious boundaries but could not resist his temptation when Lyon floated one in the air. The right-hander came dancing down the track but was not able to get to the pitch of the ball as he chipped it in the air and got holed out at mid-wicket.
"It's easy to say that's the way he plays but you've got to be better than that," Ponting told cricket.com.au.
"If you want to be a really good, consistent Test match batsman you can't just be going and throwing what could have been such a promising innings away like he did.
"He got to 44 comfortably, everything seemed to be hitting the middle of the bat, he just started to play some nice drives down the ground.
"And the trap was set for him as well, that mid-on fieldsman was three-quarters of the way back, there was also a deep forward square leg, so what Rohit was thinking there we'll never know.
"I'm sure Rohit would love to have his time over again."
Ponting has seen Rohit from the close quarters during his stint with the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier. The Australia great could not understand why Rohit hasn’t been able to replicate his white-ball success in Test matches.
"I think he's a better player now than what he was (in 2016)," Ponting said.
"You look at him now technically, the way he defends front foot and back foot now against the brand-new ball in Test match cricket, he's a better player than he was.
"Now I don't know if that's a self-belief thing or if he's made any technical changes.
"But I coached and played with him at the Mumbai Indians and it was always one thing I tried to work out, because whenever I saw him in the nets against the white ball the defensive side of his game was there and this amazing array of strokes was tucked in behind it.
"I was scratching my head at the time, trying to work out why he hadn't made a better go of (Test cricket).
"(Rohit's) record away from home is not great, (and) that's where innings like today become so important for someone like him.
"If you want to change that record around and be recognised as a great Test match batsman away from your conditions, you've got to capitalise on starts like he (had) today."
Rohit Sharma has played 33 Tests so far, scoring 2219 runs at an average of 46.23 with 6 centuries and 11 fifties.
