Former Pakistan skipper, Wasim Akram, and former India opener Gautam Gambhir seem pretty unpleased with the shot-selection of Rishabh Pant which led to his dismissal in the Super 4 match against Pakistan in Asia Cup 2022. Pant was dismissed by leg-spinner Shadab Khan after the left-handed batter tried to play a switch hit after scoring 14 off 12 balls at a crucial juncture of the match when Virat Kohli was anchoring the innings at the other end. Pant did not time the ball well and Asif Ali took a comfortable catch at point.

Rishabh Pant did not look fluent at all during his 12-ball stay and he was immensely criticized on social media. Notably, Pant was excluded from the XI for India’s Asia Cup opener against Pakistan on August 28 as Dinesh Karthik was preferred over the young wicketkeeper-batter. However, an injury to Ravindra Jadeja meant India had to go in with Pant to provide the option of a left-hander in the top six.

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Talking about Pant’s shot-selection, during a chat on Star Sports, Gautam Gambhir said, “Rishabh Pant will be disappointed because that’s not his shot, his shot is probably hit it over long-on or deep mid-wicket, you end up hitting over there and get out, absolutely you can take it because that’s your strength. Your strength is not reverse-sweeping.”

Virat Kohli played a knock of 44-ball 60 but he did not get the desired support from the middle-order. Following Pant’s dismissal, Deepak Hooda, who scored 16 off 14 following which Kohli got out in the final over as India fell short of what looked like a 200-plus total. Riding on a solid 71 from Mohammad Rizwan and a quickfire 42 (20 balls) from left-hander Mohammad Rizwan, Pakistan chased down the target in a last-over thriller to open their account in the Super 4 stage of Asia Cup 2022.

Meanwhile, former captains Wasim Akram and Ravi Shastri both agreed with Gautam Gambhir’s take on Rishabh Pant’s shot. Akrma said, “Especially, Gauti, at that stage of the game, there was no need to play that shot. I know he plays that shot in Test cricket, I know he is one of the top players in world cricket but in this stage of the game, that shot wasn’t required.”

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Ravi Shastri, who had often stressed the importance of shot-selection to Pant when he was India’s head coach, highlighted , “Particularly after what he saw Rohit, Rahul and others were doing. Where were the runs coming? It was down the ground and in the V. It was a beautiful pitch, hats off to the groundsmen, the ball was skidding on to the bat. That’s his strength, he can smack it. No boundary is big for Rishabh Pant if he connects it, but that’s his area. Absolutely, right,” Shastri added.

India will next face Sri Lanka in their second Super 4 match in Dubai on Tuesday, September 6.