'Was waiting for him to...': Michael Vaughan criticises Rishabh Pant's batting approach in 'underwhelming' verdict

After slamming two back-to-back centuries in the first Test against England at Headingley, India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant was unable to maintain his exceptional form in red-ball cricket and was dismissed for just 25 runs in the second Test of the series at Edgbaston. The 27-year-old was dismissed by England spinner Shoaib Bashir after playing a rather disappointing inning.

Vaughan was critical of Pant's slightly defensive approach

Former England cricketer Michael Vaughan criticized Pant's conservative approach. He added that the wicketkeeper-batter shouldn't have hesitated and rather should have played freely like he always does as the track in Birmingham was dry, making it a little easier for the batters to score runs.

"Rishabh was slightly underwhelming really, because he is such a brilliant player. I thought he played, can I use the word negative with Rishabh? I thought he was slightly negative. I was waiting for him to go, this is a flat wicket, and he was tapping back half volleys. It was a very unlike Rishabh Pant innings," Vaughan told Cricbuzz.

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On the other hand, Vaughan was all praise for India captain Shubman Gill, who played a brilliant knock of 114 and even remained unbeaten as the first day came to an end. His superb inning was the catalyst to India crossing the 300-run mark on Day 1 itself. Ravindra Jadeja also assisted Gill well with his sensible inning of 41. Vaughan was left really impressed with the 25-year-old and even backed him to score a double-century on the second day.

"He saw a good pitch and went, 'You know what, I am just going to bat all day. As a batter in this team, this team needs my runs'. When they lost a couple, and when they lost a couple more, I thought they could get bowled out for 280 if they were not careful. He dug in for his team to make sure that they did not lose the game on Day 1. If he is there at 12 o'clock tomorrow, he will be thinking of a double century," Vaughan added.

Additionally, Vaughan also commented on England captain Ben Stokes' decision of opting to bowl first after winning the toss at Edgbaston. The former England skipper stated that the decsion can go on to backfire this time for the hosts.

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"England will be absolutely fine with Day 1, they will be fine with getting five wickets. There is just a little bit of the traditionalist in me thinking eventually bowling first when the sun is out and the pitch is flat, it may backfire one week, and it might be this week," Vaughan stated.

Meanwhile, Gill continued to impress on Day 2 as well and went on to remain unbeaten as the first session concluded. The batter returned to the dugout unbeaten on 168 as India managed to finish on 419/6. Jadeja was the only player that got dismissed during the first session as pacer Josh Tongue opened his account for the match by sending the batter back to the pavilion on 89.