Rishabh Pant came under severe criticism for his audacious choice of shot that led to his dismissal in the ongoing BGT 2024 fourth Test between Australia and India, which is being played in Melbourne.
Australia won the toss and chose to bat first, putting on 474 runs on the board. Steve Smith scored a brilliant 140 runs, while Sam Konstas, on debut, Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne scored half-centuries.
Jasprit Burmah took 4 wickets, while Ravindra Jadeja took 3 scalps for India.
In reply, India was hit hard with the wickets of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, before Yashasvi Jaiswal (82) and Virat Kohli (36) added 100-plus runs for the 3rd wicket partnership, but towards the end of day 2’s play, India lost their wickets to finish on 164/5.
Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja then resumed for India on day 3 and much was expected from Pant, who hasn’t fired for India. However, he was dismissed trying to play an audacious falling scoop shot and was caught by Nathan Lyon.
Pant scored 28 off 39 deliveries and was severely criticized for his shot selection which led to his dismissal. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar bashed the Indian wicketkeeper, calling his decision to go for an attacking shot ‘stupid’.
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri, on the other hand, has defended Pant, claiming that it is not the first time he has been dismissed while attempting an offensive stroke. Shastri recalled Pant's dismissals in Adelaide, saying there were '2-3' moments throughout the series when he received good deliveries and made no mistakes.
“It's not in every innings he has attempted that shot. Let's look at the way he was dismissed in each innings, he got 2-3 really good deliveries. He got a really good delivery that left off the length in Adelaide, there was no way he played an attacking shot.
He got another one that left him, he was caught behind. Second innings in Adelaide, the second ball of the day, he gets a good one from Starc and he nicks it. So, let's calm down here, guys. It's not every time he's throwing it away. He got some good balls as well,” Shastri told Star Sports.
Shastri did advise Rishabh Pant to play more maturely. Shastri believes Pant's reputation as an attacking batter makes it difficult for him to continue attacking when the field is wide.
“He had done the hard work. The field had spread out. That's one aspect of his batting that has to change with time to come. He's built up a reputation for himself, he comes to the field, he smashes a boundary and the field spreads. That's the time when maturity should come in, knock the ball around and take singles,” said Shastri.
"That was a high-risk shot. There was no doubt about that. The field was set, with two fielders on the boundary pretty fine, a fly slip and a fine leg as well. Scott Boland was looking to ball up. It didn't come off the face of the blade, Rishabh backed himself to get the face of the blade.
If he had got that, it would've been a six. He was looking to clear the field, that's his instinct and that's the way he plays. You must remember that there are 1-2 players who take the game away,” Shastri said.
India ended day 3 on 358/9 thanks to a sublime unbeaten century by Nitish Kumar Reddy and his 127-run partnership with Washington Sundar, who scored 50.
