Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar who has often praised Rishabh Pant for his aggressive style of play wasn't impressed with his risk-filled counter-attack towards the end of Day 2's play. Pant in his typical fashion played unorthodox shots and tried to dominate the Australian bowling attack. Gavaskar found it entertaining but explained that Pant plays this way in Test cricket as he has the Indian Premier League (IPL) to fall back to.
"Very entertaining, no question about it. But you mustn't forget, in the old days, there was no alternative to Test cricket; if you didn't play Test cricket, you went back to Ranji Trophy, you went back to club cricket, and that was it. When you have a cushion like the IPL, like the contract system, you can play this way. So what if you get dropped from the Indian team, you have the IPL," Gavaskar told the broadcaster Star Sports after Day 2's play as quoted by Hindustan Times.
At the end of Day 2's play, India were 128/5, still trailing by 29 runs. Commentator Mark Nicholas asked Gavaskar whether Pant can turn this game around.
"Can he come out tomorrow and turn this back India's way?" asked Nicholas.
"He can but he won't," Gavaskar responded.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten for 28 off 25 balls including five fours. On the other hand, Nitish Kumar Reddy scored 15 runs from 14 balls including three fours.
Pant had made a statement straightaway when he walked out to bat and charged down the track to hit Scott Boland for a boundary through the off side. He was not afraid to play the reverse lap shot to hit the ball over the slips.
Pant's run in ongoing tour so far
The 26-year-old who has had a good record in Australia is yet to play an impactful knock on this tour. In the Perth Test, he registered scores of 37 and 1. In the first innings of Perth Test, he could not convert a good start into a big score. In the ongoing pink-ball Test, Pant was dismissed by captain Pat Cummins who bowled a short ball. The southpaw scored 21 runs from 35 balls.
