The careless dismissals of Rishabh Pant during the Boxing Day Test did not impress Indian captain Rohit Sharma. When asked about Pant's dismissal on Day 5 of the Test, which India lost by 184 runs, Rohit gave a cheeky reply during the post-match press conference. Rohit Sharma asked the reporter if he was referring to the dismissal in the first or second innings of the match when he was asked if Rishabh Pant's careless shot in the final session put India in trouble in Melbourne. During both innings of the Boxing Day match, Rohit was unreserved in his criticism of Rishabh's shot selection.
Pant received a lot of flak over his dismissal in both innings. However, the Indian team's collapse on the last day of the Test match was caused by his wicket in the second innings, which proved to be a decisive blow. Pant was the fourth wicket to fall as India chased 340 runs to win. Shortly after the tea break, Rishabh Pant was dismissed after the left-hander attempted to unnecessarily take on Australia's part-time bowler Travis Head. At the time, India had recovered from a top-order collapse (33/3) thanks to the stand that Pant and Yashasvi Jaiswal had added. Pant was lured by Head into a long-on aerial pull shot, which Mitchell Marsh caught safely. This wicket set the groundwork for a spectacular collapse as India was bowled out for just 155 runs.
Rohit on Pant's dismissal
The India captain went on to say that the team gets frustrated when the left-hander gets out to make a hasty shot under duress. Rohit, however, decided not to blame Rishabh, claiming that although Pant had his own game plans, he needed to understand the importance of his wickets in crucial times.
"It just happened. There hasn't been any discussion about it today. Obviously, you know we lost the game. Everybody is disappointed about how things actually planned out. We certainly didn't think of this result. Rishabh Pant obviously needs to understand what is required from him more than any one of us telling him. It's about him understanding and figuring out what is the right way to go about it. In the past, he's given us a lot of success doing what he does. So as a captain, there is a kind of mixed reaction to that. Sometimes you want to back that thought of him playing the way he plays, and sometimes when things don't look good, it frustrates everyone," Rohit Sharma said.
"That's the reality, it's the success and the failure. There is there needs to be a balance about it. As a captain, it's very hard to have a conversation. It has given him a lot of success as well, but it's about him figuring out, you know, what is the right way to do things. It's just about the situation as well. Certain situations of the game where, if there is a risk percentage, do you want to take that risk? Do you want to let the opposition come back into the game? Those are the things he needs to figure out himself," he further added.
"See, I know Rishabh for a very long time, and I understand his cricket as well. In the past also we've had a lot of conversations. There's no way I can say that I've not had a chat with him or that he doesn't understand what the team expects. He understands that, but the things that he does gives him results as well. So, it's just that fine line between telling him not to do those things or telling him to do those things," he concluded
Pant was earlier slammed by legendary Sunil Gavaskar as well for playing a reckless shot and losing his wicket against Scott Boland in the first innings. His dismissal left the team in a bothersome position in the first innings as well.