India’s wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant was in sublime form recently during the Australia series Down Under and against England at home. But he failed to maintain it in the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand and India eventually lost on Wednesday. While his unconventional batting cost him the game, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar said ‘there is a thin line between carefree and careless.’
“There is a thin line between carefree and careless. Pant has at times breached the line of carefree and careless,” Gavaskar said during commentary on Wednesday. “A couple of times he went for a big hit when he was in the 90s and missed an opportunity to score a hundred. The only issue with Pant is always going to be his shot selection; otherwise, he has a got the defence, got all the shots and technique.”
ALSO READ: Alastair Cook Predicts The Result Of Five Tests Between England And India
However, Rishabh Pant went to bat after India had lost two early wickets in the first session of the reserve day and he continued to hit high-risk shots despite getting an early life as Tim Southee dropped one as well. While he managed to get two streaky boundaries off the fast bowlers, he couldn’t score much against Neil Wagner and Southee as well.
Meanwhile, India could manage only 14 runs to their total after the dismissal of Rishabh Pant as they were bowled out for 170, leaving New Zealand a small target of 139 runs to chase down in 53 overs. In reply, New Zealand’s experienced duo of Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor laid the winning foundation as well.
ALSO READ: VVS Laxman Surprised With The Poor Performance Of Jasprit Bumrah
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has expressed his happiness and satisfaction after the convincing win. “It’s certainly a slightly different feeling being on the right side of the result,” Kane Williamson told a news conference. “The first semi-final was one-sided, the second one was pretty interesting. It was the first official world test championship, that’s a really good feeling. Both teams knew coming into the last day there were three possible results — win, lose or draw and we saw that things could happen quickly.”
