While the entire focus during the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy is on the duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, another star performer Rishabh Pant has also been under scrutiny. The wicketkeeper-batter has scored 154 runs in 4 matches at an average of 22. While runs have not come as much as expected from the bat of Pant, his shot selections and batting approach have also been under the radar of critics, of late. Former India cricketer Atul Wassan feels the 27-year-old needs to “think” and “tamper” his game according to the situation.
The statement from Wassan comes after Pant was brutally slammed for his performance in the Melbourne Test. Pant ended the fourth Test with scores of 28(37) and 30(104).
Pant faced backlash from fans and former cricketers after India fell to a 184-run defeat in front of a record-attendance crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in the Boxing Day Test. The southpaw gave away his wicket while trying to pull off an audacious shot in the first innings. Former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, who was on commentary, didn’t mince his words while talking about Pant’s dismissal.
“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,” was Gavaskar’s reaction during commentary.
In the second innings, when India stood in a comfortable position to end the Test at a draw, Pant’s dismissal opened the floodgates. He tried to take on part-time bowler Travis Head and holed it to Mitchell Marsh, ending his time on the crease.
“He (Pant) has won matches with such shots. But now there are a lot of expectations. So he should know how to tamper his game. I think Pant has slacked too much. He has to think. If you are not tampering with yourself according to the situation as a senior player, then you need to think,” Wassan told ANI.
Former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar believes Pant should be criticised for his failures, but not the way he gets dismissed.
“Pant should be criticised only for his failures, rather than how he fails. He averages 42 in Tests with at least 3 great innings, ever played by an Indian! In 42 tests he has 6 hundred & 7 nineties. He is a great player not scoring enough runs & that’s the crux of it,” Manjrekar wrote in a post on X.
(With ANI Inputs)
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