An irate Sunil Gavaskar took Rishabh Pant to the cleaners, slamming India’s wicketkeeper-batter for his irresponsible shot-selection in a situation when the team needed him to build a partnership on Day 3 of the fourth Test against Australia in Melbourne.
Trying to manufacture an audacious ramp shot with India’s score reading 191 for 5 in response to Australia’s 474, Pant was caught at deep third-man for 28 — gifting his wicket to Scott Boland.
“Stupid! Stupid! Stupid,” Gavaskar reacted in anger while doing commentary. “You’ve got two fielders there and you still go for that (shot). You had missed the previous shot, and look where you’ve been caught. You’ve been caught at deep third-man.”
Pant, like in a couple of his previous innings of this Border Gavaskar Trophy series, did all the hard work to get his eye in but then threw his wicket away.
Gavaskar said such hara-kiri can’t be justified on the basis that it is Pant’s “natural game” to attack.
“That is throwing away your wicket — not in the situation that India was,” Gavaskar continued. “You have to understand the situation as well. You cannot say that’s your natural game. I am sorry. That is not your natural game. That is a stupid shot; that is letting your team down badly.”
When Gavaskar’s co-commentator Harsha Bhogle added that there won’t be too much of a conversation in the Indian dressing room, an infuriated Gavaskar said: “He should not be going in that dressing room; he should be going in the other dressing room.”
India were 244 for 7 at lunch on Day 3, still 240 runs behind Australia’s first-innings total.
The five-Test series is level at 1-1.
