Delhi: Sunil Gavaskar expressed strong displeasure over Rishabh Pant's poor shot selection in the morning session on the third day of the fourth Test against Australia in Melbourne. Pant, who was looking in excellent form and was scoring runs brilliantly on the balls of Pat Cummins and Scott Boland, suddenly lost his wicket. After getting injured on one ball of Boland, he played the same shot on the next ball and was caught out at third man for 28 runs.
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'Shocking' and 'extremely bad' shot selection
Gavaskar described this shot selection as “shocking” and “very poor”. He said that Pant should not even think of returning to the Indian dressing room after playing such shots.
Gavaskar said on ABP Sports Radio, “Stupid! Stupidity! Stupidity! He has no right to go to the Indian dressing room, he should go to the Australian dressing room.”
The former captain said during the commentary, “Both the shot and the running were surprising. There was no need for such shots and runs at this time. This is not T20 or 50 over cricket.”
Gavaskar said during the lunch break on Star Sports, “Earlier, when the fielder was not there, he played these shots. That makes sense because it's a calculated risk. But here, when two fielders were already present, there was no point in such a shot. This was poor shot selection. “Maybe a little unlucky, but still it can't be justified.”
“Stupid, stupid, stupid!” 😡
🏏 Safe to say Sunny wasn’t happy with Rishabh Pant after that shot.
Read more: https://t.co/bEUlbXRNpm
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🟢 Listen live: #AUSWIN pic.twitter.com/Fe2hdpAtVl— ABC SPORT (@abcsport) December 28, 2024
'Pant should not play at number 5'
The former Indian captain said that if Pant continues to bat like this, then he should not bat at number 5.
He said, “It seems that Pant can score runs only in this way. If he always wants to score runs by playing aggressive shots, then it cannot always be successful at the Test level. If that is the case, then he should bat lower down the order and not at No. 5.”
Citing statistics, Gavaskar said, “Between 20 and 39, he has been out 13 times, and has scored 50+ only three times. If you are scoring 50+ only three times in 18 innings, then batting at number 5 is not right.”
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