Rishabh Pant hasn’t set this Border Gavaskar Trophy on fire like his series-clinching Gabba heroics in 2021; and with only flashes of brilliance in his five innings so far, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar feels that the flamboyant Indian wicketkeeper-batter should “respect” the conditions in Australia before playing his free-flowing shots.
In Adelaide, against the pink ball, Rishabh Pant came down the track to Scott Boland on the first ball he faced, hitting the pacer for a four. He then attempted fearless ramp shots to entertain the crowd but didn’t last long enough on the crease to make a difference.
Gavaskar feels that unless India’s scorecard wears a dominant look, Pant needs to curb his instincts for a while to get his eye in and then take the bowlers on.
“What Rishabh Pant has to do, like everybody else, respect the first half an hour; respect a little bit when he gets in there, whatever the position, unless, of course, India is 525 for 3; then he can tee off,” said Gavaskar talking on Star Sports, and went on to analyse how Pant is getting found out against the tactics of Australian pacers.
“…they get the ball to angle across. Pat Cummins and even (Josh) Hazlewood give him a little bit of a problem; Scott Boland will give him a little bit of a problem because Boland bowls around that area as well.”
In five innings of the three Tests so far, Pant has scored 96 runs at an average of 19.20.
Also part of the discussion was Australia batting great Matthew Hayden, who wants Pant to stay fearless.
“I have always been a fan of his. He’s kind of a different cheese; there is no doubt about it. And I would like to just see him explore that as well because he should be coming in a situation where, as I mentioned before, there are lots of runs; and if so, that’s a perfect scenario for him to be (in), but it’s also the perfect scenario for Team India. A little bit like Rohit Sharma, I think we haven’t seen some counter-punching efforts from Rishabh, but he should have no fear in these conditions. I think in the absence of fear comes a great opportunity for Rishabh and Team India,” said Hayden.
The five-Test series is currently level at 1-1, with the fourth Test scheduled to begin in Melbourne on Boxing Day (December 26).
