On being asked about those shots, Rohit Sharma said Pant needs to understand what’s required of him.
Rishabh Pant played two poor shots in the Boxing Day Test, which has been criticised heavily by experts and fans around the globe. In the first innings, he attempted a scoop shot off Scott Boland, which didn’t come off and gave a simple catch at third-man.
Later, in the second innings, Pant found the worst moment to play a big shot right after the start of the third session on the final day. It was a short delivery, and he went for a pull but holed out straight to wide of long-on to allow Australia to come into the game.
On being asked about those shots, Rohit Sharma said Pant needs to understand what’s required of him. He added he had mixed feelings about those strokes as a captain.
“Rishabh Pant needs to understand what is required from him. More than us telling him, it is about him understanding and figuring out what is the right way to go about it. In the past, he has given us a lot of success doing what he does. As a captain, there’s a mixed reaction to that. Sometimes, you want to back that thought of him playing the way he plays, and sometimes when things doesn’t look good it frustrates everyone. But that is what it is.”
When Rishabh Pant got out after playing a scoop in the first innings, Sunil Gavaskar couldn’t resist calling him out for such a poor shot. He labelled it “stupid”.
“Stupid, stupid, stupid. You’ve got two fielders there, and you still go for that, you’ve missed the previous shot. And look where you’ve been caught. You’ve been 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 that’s your natural game. I’m sorry, that is not your natural game. That is a stupid shot. That is letting your team down badly!”
Also Read: Yashasvi Jaiswal Gets Out in a Controversial Manner! Snicko Shows No Spike but Umpire Deems Him Out
Both shots cost India poorly, especially the one he played on the final day as it provided an opening for the Aussies to roar back into the game. Since India was looking for a draw, it was not on.
Australia made the most of that opening and removed other batters quickly, winning the game by 184 runs. While there were other reasons behind the defeat, Pant’s poor shot selection was avoidable, and it surely played a role in Australia’s comeback.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram, and YouTube.
