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Gavaskar opined that Pant would fare well if he’d respect the first half-four of his innings and pace himself well to go on and make a big impact with his swashbuckling style of batting.
Rishabh Pant. (Image: Sportzpics)
Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar urged wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant to respect the conditions at the MCG in the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 between India and Australia slated to begin on Boxing Day.
The series stands level at 1 win each and a draw at the end of three games and the events at the famous Melbourne grounds could well dictate the course of the series.
Gavaskar opined that Pant would fare well if he’d respect the first half-four of his innings and pace himself well to go on and make a big impact with his swashbuckling style of batting.
“What Rishabh Pant has to do, like everybody else, respect the first half an hour. Respect a little bit when he gets in there, whatever the position, unless, of course, India is 525 for 3; then he can tee off,” Gavaskar said.
Commenting on the challenges posed by Australian bowlers, Gavaskar added,
Gavaskar went on to shed light on the threat posed by the Australian quicks who angle the red cherry across the batter to put him in trying positions.
“They get the ball to angle across. Pat Cummins and even Josh Hazlewood give him a little bit of a problem.
“Scott Boland will give him a little bit of a problem because Boland bowls around that area as well,” Gavaskar added.
Australian great Matthew Hayden, however, opined that Pant should rather embrace his nature style of aggressive batting and cited that the conditions at the Gabba could serve Pant well.
“I have always been a fan of his. He’s kind of a different cheese, there is no doubt about it,” the southpaw said.
“And I would like to just see him explore that as well because he should be coming in a situation where, as I mentioned before, there are lots of runs; and if so, that’s a perfect scenario for him to be in,” Hayden added.
“But it’s also the perfect scenario for Team India. A little bit like Rohit Sharma, I think we haven’t seen some counter-punching efforts from Rishabh, but he should have no fear in these conditions. I think in the absence of fear comes a great opportunity for Rishabh and Team India,” said Hayden.
