Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar did not hold back as he criticised Rishabh Pant for his 'stupid' shot selection that led to his wicket on Day 3 of the fourth Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Pant played a reckless shot to get caught at the third man off Scott Boland's delivery. Post the dismissal, Gavaskar was livid as he feels that Pant should drop down the order if he wants to play like that.
"That is a terrible shot selection especially with the fielders placed where they were. He seems to have two ways of scoring either by hammering the ball over long on or looking to play these shots. Which means, at the Test level you can't always score consistently. If he wants to bat this way, he can't bat at no. 5 but maybe lower down the order. That means that he will score some runs here and there," Sunil Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
Gavaskar also questioned the way Pant has scored runs. He is not impressed by his conversion rate which he feels is not good enough for an established middle-order batter.
"You see some of his fours there were edges through the slips. His 50 plus conversion rate is just 19 per cent? Is that good enough for a no. 5?"
Gavaskar's furious first reaction to Pant's dismissal
Earlier, while commentating for ABC Sport, Gavaskar slammed Pant for not reading the situation and throwing away his wicket. He went on to say that Pant should go into the other dressing room.
"Stupid, Stupid, STUPID! You've got two fielders there, and you still go for that. You missed the previous shot, and look where you've been caught. That is throwing away your wicket. You cannot say that is your natural game. I'm sorry. That is not your natural game. This is a stupid shot. This is letting your team down badly. You have to understand the situation as well." Gavaskar said while reacting to Pant's dismissal.
"He should not be going in that [India's] dressing room, he should be going in the other dressing room," Gavaskar added.
Pant scored 28 runs from 37 deliveries including three fours. The wicketkeeper-batter who was the hero on the previous tour is yet to score a half-century in the ongoing series.