India’s Rishabh Pant has come under fire across the cricket world after a moment of madness on the third day fourth test against Australia. Footage showed the Indian team having a serious conversation before the start of play on Saturday, but the last thing the visitors needed was for Pant to throw away his wicket so needlessly in the first session as they set out to claim Australia’s big first innings target of 474 at the top to catch up with a breathtaking Steve Smith century.
Pant’s dismissal was even harder to understand after he tried and failed to knock down Scott Boland on the previous delivery, only to be left lying on the pitch in pain. Pant went over his stumps and tried to play a flamboyant shot through mid-wicket but rammed it into his own stomach and was clearly uncomfortable as he toppled over on the MCG wicket.
Remarkably, this scare did not stop Pant from attempting the same shot again on the very next ball, although a more cautious approach was certainly required. Pant is a typically aggressive batsman and has clearly insisted on staying true to his natural attacking instincts, but the Indian wicketkeeper was made fool of after throwing his wicket away in a bizarre manner.
Pant fell to the ground as he tried to scoop Boland over the top on the leg side, only to catch a huge top edge and see the ball fall into the grateful hands of Nathan Lyon at third man. “Rishabh Pant has tried once too many times and the ‘G’s Scott Boland gets the dangerous Rishabh Pant,” Isa Guha said in Channel Seven’s coverage.
Former Aussie Test quicksman Damien Fleming described it as a “crazy” move from Pant to play in these circumstances and the last thing India needed to move into Australia’s impressive first innings total. “This is crazy, we were just talking about the leaders of the Indian team having a bit of a chat this morning,” Fleming said.
“I’ll tell you what they wouldn’t have talked about, such reckless beating. And he got away unscathed with the previous ball…there are two men out on the leg side but there is a third man and Nathan Lyon.” Taking the room service catch was delivered easily in the end.
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Rishabh Pant was crucified after a ‘terrible’ moment
Pant’s dismissal left India in a real hole at 6-191, still trailing Australia by 283 runs. And it meant India’s last recognized batsman had been sent back to the pavilion, leaving them with a mountain to climb to try and get something out of the Test. Unsurprisingly, Indian cricket fans were furious after describing it as an “irresponsible” and “unnecessary” act at a crucial stage of the game.
They had the field on both sides.
Why do you even want to sign these outfield players?
Completely unnecessary shot from Pant and gave away his wicket with a nothing ball.#INDvsAUS #AUSvIND #AUSvINDIA— Rahul
(@tweets_Sky33) December 28, 2024
Pant, I know you are staying true to your natural game and would look cool if you could clear the rope, but this innovation was completely undesirable, could have stuck to aggressive batting with simple cricket shots and trying to hit straight #AUSvsIND
— 🆁
🅻🅴🆇ᶜʳⁱᶜᵏᵉᵗᵍᵉᵉᵏ (@RoshanSriram123) December 28, 2024
What a terrible way out for Rishab Pant. Just completely unnecessary, no sense of responsibility in the way he played, as someone expected to make a big splash. He literally gave away his wicket. #AUSvsIND #BorderGavaskarTrophy2024
— Avni Aneja (@avnianeja13) December 28, 2024
Nathan Lyon finally grabbed his first wicket of the game when he trapped Jadeja LBW for 17 after being used sparingly in the first three Tests. The experienced Australian spinner saw his place in the starting XI questioned but stepped in to remove Jadeja and leave the tourists reeling with 7-244 at lunch.
Virat Kohli was involved in a horror runout on the second day
India began the third day at 5-164, with Pant and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja hoping to match Australia’s mammoth first innings total. The visitors appeared to be in a strong position on the second day until a terrible mix-up between Virat Kohli (36) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (82) resulted in the young opener finishing with a century in sight.
Jaiswal’s wicket sparked a collapse of 3-6 that swung the game firmly in Australia’s favour. The cricket world was divided over whether the run-out was the opener’s fault or Kohli’s. It was Jaiswal’s decision because the ball ended up behind Kohli on the non-striker’s end, but the Indian veteran wasn’t interested and stood his ground, leaving his young teammate to trot back to the pavilion after Pat Cummins threw the ball to Alex Carey and the Australian goalkeeper had the deposits whipped away.
This came after Cummins took the first two wickets by removing under-fire skipper Rohit Sharma (three runs) and KL Rahul (24). Steve Smith’s 34th Test century and a crucial late stand from Cummins (49) helped the Australians to their impressive first innings total.
