Sunil Gavaskar, an Indian cricketing legend, has continued his salvo against Rishabh Pant for his careless dismissal in the first innings of the ongoing BGT 2024 Test in Melbourne. Previously, Rishabh Pant had called Pant ‘stupid’ for his audacious shot that resulted in his dismissal of Scott Boland.
Rishabh Pant had tried to scoop Scott Boland’s ball on the leg side, only managing to tet a top edge, and had to walk back to the pavilion after scoring 28 runs.
A few hours have elapsed since the 27-year-old was fired. However, Gavaskar's assessment has remained unchanged. He stated again that it appears the youngster does not feel he can score runs by playing in the traditional style.
Gavaskar stated that the game situation did not warrant such a shot because Rishabh Pant is capable of playing in an orthodox style while scoring important runs for Team India.
“Very thin line. Always has been. I've always said there's a very thin line between carefree and careless. That is exactly what we saw today. Because, you know, the previous ball, he tried to play the shot. There were two fielders there. And with two fielders on big, long Australian boundaries, you're taking a chance," Gavaskar said to India Today.
“Yes, if you connect it well, it'll go for a six, and all of us will get up, applaud, and say, ' fantastic shot. ' But when the shot doesn't come off, all of us, not all of us, but some of us who, you know, who feel very strongly about Indian cricket will feel upset and will, you know, want to express ourselves,” he added.
Rishabh Pant, who set the previous BGT tour in Australia on fire with two amazing knocks in Sydney and Brisbane, is yet to cross the 50-run mark this time around.
“That's exactly what happened. I know that Rishabh, you know, people say that's a natural game. Fair enough. It's a natural game. But the way he's been playing throughout this series, it looks as if he thinks that that's the only way he's going to score runs.
That he doesn't believe that he can score runs in an orthodox manner, you know, playing the cover drive, playing the flick shot, that he only has to go down the pitch and then smash the ball, or he's got to play these, you know, reverse scoop or scoops to score runs,” said Gavaskar.
Speaking further about Pant, Gavaskar said, “That is not what we saw of Rishabh Pant. Rishabh Pant has got plenty of shots and plenty of shots with less risk than some of the shots that he's been attempting here in Australia and getting out to.”
Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant will need to come good as India is staring at a stiff target to chase. Australia ended day 4 on 228/9 with a lead of 333 runs.
