It was a lively third day of the ongoing Boxing Day Test match between Australia and India. At one point, it seemed India would be bowled out cheaply, but then one unexpected hero emerged: Nitish Kumar Reddy, who scored his maiden Test century to ensure the ongoing Test remains decisive.
Nevertheless, there was one moment that made Sunil Gavaskar angry and frustrated with Rishabh Pant. The third day started with Pant and Ravindra Jadeja trying to steady the sinking ship of their team, and they successfully saw through the first hour of play.
But then Pant did something “stupid.” He attempted a scoop from outside off to the leg side off Scott Boland, and it resulted in an easy catch for deep third off the leading edge.
Reacting to this careless mistake by a set batsman like Pant, Sunil Gavaskar said it was a “terrible shot selection” by the wicketkeeper-batter.
“I think earlier on, when there had been no fielders around, that’s when he’s attempted these shots, that is understandable because you’re taking a very good chance,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports during the lunch break.
“That [the shot] was supposed to go to the leg side, but it went to the off side. It actually tells you maybe [there was] a little bit of bad luck involved, but it was a terrible selection of a shot to play at that particular point with two fielders down at deep square leg and deep point.”
He had attempted a similar shot on the previous ball but managed to inside-edge it onto his body, losing his balance in the process. Unfortunately, his next attempt didn’t go as planned either – he connected slightly better but still didn’t get the desired result, holing out to Nathan Lyon.
At that point, India was struggling at 191/5, still trailing by a significant 283 runs. However, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar took charge, leading a spirited fightback that put India in a more promising position as the day progressed.
“It just appears to be that that’s the only way he thinks he’s capable of scoring runs,” Gavaskar said.
“So if he’s not going to be able to score runs the orthodox way, if he’s only thinking that he’s going to go down the pitch, hammering the ball over long-on, or just looking to play these shots, which means at the Test level, you can’t always succeed. Then you have got to be prepared for the fact that he will get you some runs sometimes. If that is the case, then he cannot bat at No. 5; he’s got to bat down the order.”
Gavaskar was commentating when Pant got out, and before speaking to Star Sports, he termed Pant’s shot as “stupid” during the commentary.
“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” was Gavaskar’s immediate reaction. “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 in. 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!”
