Former India player turned commentator Dinesh Karthik has raised questions over the dressing room communication from head coach Gautam Gambhir. His comments came as he believes that might have unsettled Rishabh Pant before his dismissal on Day 2 of the first Test vs England at Headingley, Leeds, as well.

India were at 453 for five when a mini-collapse saw them lose five quick wickets for just 18 runs, including Pant, who was in sublime form until he played a puzzling leave against Josh Tongue and lost his stumps as well. Karthik also suggested that a message relayed to Pant after the quick wickets of Shubman Gill (147) and Karun Nair (0) may have asked him to play cautiously, or something that disrupted his natural rhythm as well.

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“Very interesting that when a message was sent out to Rishabh Pant, it curbed his style of play,” Karthik said on Sky Sports. “He was just very carefree with his stroke-making, and yet the feeling is that a message was sent to tell him to calm down. It doesn’t work for certain players, I guess.”

Karthik also said that while a coach has every right to send a message to the batter, the tone and delivery of that message matter a lot, as that can make the difference between success and failure, especially with unconventional match-winners like Rishabh Pant.

“As a coach, it’s completely understandable when you want to get a message across to the batter. But over time, you realise, for certain players, how you send that message becomes very important—what is the tone, what is the language used that gets the best out of the batter,” he said.

“Maybe with Rishabh Pant, it needs to be a different way in which you get things done,” Dinesh Karthik concluded.