"If you are doing something different, you shouldn't mishit" - Sanjay Manjrekar on Rishabh Pant's dismissal in BGT 2024-25 4th Test

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels that Rishabh Pant cannot afford mishits when he is attempting unconventional shots. He pointed out that the swashbuckling wicketkeeper-batter will be questioned if he gets dismissed while trying to play such strokes.

Pant scored 28 runs off 37 deliveries as India ended Day 3 (Saturday, December 28) of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 fourth Test in Melbourne at 358/9 in their first innings. He was caught at third man by Nathan Lyon while attempting a scoop off Scott Boland's bowling.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Manjrekar was asked about his thoughts on Pant's dismissal.

"In this series, we saw Rishabh Pant getting out while defending many times, and not while playing shots like this. The knock we saw today, his defense was excellent. As Deep Dasgupta said, he was playing late and concentrating on his defense. Then he erred while playing an attacking shot," he responded.

"I always believe that if you are doing something different, you shouldn't mishit. When we saw Pant for the first time in his first few Tests, he used to get out like this while playing such big shots, and I remember I had said then that if you play such risky shots, play them properly, because if you get out, everyone outside will question what you did," Manjrekar added.

Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar lambasted Rishabh Pant for his mode of dismissal. The former India captain termed it a 'stupid' shot, saying the keeper-batter should go to the opposition dressing room instead of the Indian one after he got out.

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"He was slightly unlucky" - Sanjay Manjrekar on Rishabh Pant's mode of dismissal

Rishabh Pant missed the ball when he tried a scoop shot earlier in his innings. [P/C: Getty]

In the same discussion, Sanjay Mankrekar opined that Rishabh Pant was slightly unfortunate to get out in that fashion.

"He was slightly unlucky as the catch was taken at third man because the fielder placed there was for the ramp shot. He was trying to play on the leg side. When he plays such shots, there is slight calculation behind it. He felt a gap was there, the ball was full and he could scoop it," he said.

The former India batter attributed Pant's dismissal to an execution error and not to his shot selection.

"However, the mistake was in the execution. He first tried it off a ball that was slightly shorter and this was a full ball against which he hits sixes. We also saw (Sam) Konstas doing it against (Jasprit) Bumrah. However, he (Pant) played slightly early. It took the bottom end of the bat and the ball went to third man and there was a fielder there," Manjrekar observed.

Rishabh Pant's dismissal reduced India to 191/6. Although Ravindra Jadeja (17 off 51) was also dismissed a few overs later, Nitish Kumar Reddy (105* off 176) and Washington Sundar (50 off 162) stitched together a 127-run eighth-wicket partnership to help the visitors cross the 300-run mark.