Former India cricketer turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar feels that Rishabh Pant cannot afford mishits when he is trying unconventional shots. He also said that the talented wicketkeeper-batter will be questioned if he gets dismissed while trying to play such strokes as well. Pant scored 28 runs off 37 deliveries as India ended Day 3 (Saturday, December 28) of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 fourth Test in
Melbourne at 358/9 in their first innings as well.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Manjrekar said, “In this series, we saw Rishabh Pant getting out while defending many times, and not while playing shots like this. The knock we saw today, his defense was excellent. As Deep Dasgupta said, he was playing late and concentrating on his defense. Then he erred while playing an attacking shot. I always believe that if you are doing something different, you shouldn’t mishit. When we saw Pant for the first time in his first few Tests, he used to get out like this while playing such big shots, and I remember I had said then that if you play such risky shots, play them properly, because if you get out, everyone outside will question what you did.”

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However, Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar lashed out at Rishabh Pant for his mode of dismissal. He also termed it a ‘stupid’ shot, saying Pant should go to the opposition dressing room instead of the Indian one after his dismissal.

“He was slightly unlucky as the catch was taken at third man because the fielder placed there was for the ramp shot. He was trying to play on the leg side. When he plays such shots, there is slight calculation behind it. He felt a gap was there, the ball was full and he could scoop it. However, the mistake was in the execution. He first tried it off a ball that was slightly shorter and this was a full ball against which he hits sixes. We also saw (Sam) Konstas doing it against (Jasprit) Bumrah. However, he (Pant) played slightly early. It took the bottom end of the bat and the ball went to third man and there was a fielder there,” Sanjay Manjrekar concluded.