‘No excuses for that shot’ – Sunil Gavaskar slams Rishabh Pant’s aggressive slog
Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar lashed out at Rishabh Pant in the commentary box after the batter got dismissed playing a lofted shot off his third delivery. India are currently facing South Africa in Johannesburg and are battling it hard to put up a big total for the hosts to chase. It seemed like Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane set a good platform, but their work was undone by three quick wickets.
Shortly after Rahane and Pujara walked back, Rishabh Pant came in at number 4. Kagiso Rabada, who was bowling his 7th over of the ongoing spell, managed to beat him off his first ball as Pant lashed at a fifth stump delivery in an attempt to play it towards covers. He came down the track off his third ball to heave it over long-off, but Rabada was smart to adjust his length and managed to get an outside edge, winning a simple catch for the keeper.
Sunil Gavaskar in the commentary box was least impressed by Pant’s effort, who is going through a rough patch lately. He went after the Delhi cricketer saying he must take responsibility in a situation like this rather than going out to play his “Natural game”.
“No excuses for that shot. None of that nonsense of ‘oh that’s his natural game’. There’s got to be some responsibility shown because there are other guys like Pujara, Rahane taking blows,” Gavaskar said on air.
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Since scoring a century against England in Ahmedabad, the 24-year-old got just 1 half-century in 13 innings. The youngster has been under immense pressure to deliver a big performance as expectations have been sky-high on him since his performances in Australia. He has been receiving a lot of flack lately and this little effort at Wanderers did him no good.
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The stump mic also caught the Indian batter saying “Keep your mouth shut” to the short-leg fielder, which may have been a part of the ploy to get into his mind. He scored just 17 runs in the first innings having stuck in the middle for 43 deliveries, but added nothing to his tally in the second.