Cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra wasn't happy with the way India's wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant approached the innings on the reserve day of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final.
Team India were in trouble after losing four wickets, which included the scalps of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, and Cheteshwar Pujara, and they needed a partnership to survive.
Chopra asked a few questions about Pant's approach and said the youngster was batting like a 'millionaire'. He was dismissed after scoring 41 runs and his innings included some of the unorthodox shots.
"Rishabh Pant was batting like a millionaire. There was a question there, is it just my way or the highway or is this just the way Rishabh Pant bats. Or was Rishabh Pant trapped in his own reputation that Pant bats like that?", he said.
Chopra felt Pant could have done better with the bat and his batting aggression wasn't as controlled as he has shown in the past. "We have seen him bat extremely well, seen him excel. We remember the Sydney Test match where he hit a century earlier and now the 97 he made.
"We remember the Gabba Test where he made 89 not out. We talk about the two centuries against England, one at the Oval and the other in India. We have seen match-winning knocks from him but not seen him bat like this there."
The ex-India cricketer talked about the shot which led to Pant's dismissal. He had come out of the crease and hit the ball straight into the sky for Henry Nicholls to take an outstanding catch.
"To step out and hit the fast bowler, he doesn't even do this in the IPL. In IPL history, he has actually done it only once. He stepped out to Shivam Mavi and hit him for a six. He does give the bowlers a beating but in a different fashion. On this day, he was jumping out and swinging his bat," he said.
