Former India player turned commentator Sunil Gavaskar has said that Rishabh Pant failed to live up to expectations in the recently concluded edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT 2024-25). He added that Pant was expected to do an encore of his match-defining performances from India’s 2020-21 tour of Australia as well. Notably, India faced a 1-3 defeat in the five-match series against Australia as well. However, Pant scored 255 runs at an average of 28.33 in his nine innings in the series as well.
During a discussion on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “Yes, in the last tour that happened in 2020-21, he was the biggest difference. The way he batted in Sydney and Gabba, the Indian team was able to win the last series because of him only. The way he kept the Australian bowlers on the back foot in Sydney and then in Brisbane, the expectations will definitely be there because if he has scored runs on such pitches, the thinking will be that once he returns there, he should score good runs.”
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However, Rishabh Pant’s only fifty in BGT 2024-25 was a quick 61 off 33 balls in Team India’s second innings of the final Test in Sydney. He scored 20s in six of his other eight innings but he couldn’t convert them into big scores. In the same discussion, Irfan Pathan also opined on this.
“You will also have to see that he returned from injury after a very long time. After that, he is playing Test cricket in Australia and we are expecting him to play like that only. The difference between coming to No. 5 from No. 6 on such pitches is that if you bat after keeping for 100 overs and two wickets fall early, which were consistently falling, you don’t have time for recovery,” he said.
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“That’s why there was a discussion about whether Rishabh Pant should bat at No. 6 only, especially in overseas conditions. It’s not only about technique, he has the technique. He put his body on the line in the first innings and in the second innings (in Sydney), he sent the ball over the line. He has the perfect game for No. 5 but I am thinking about recovery as a wicketkeeper-batter,” he concluded.
