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Time and again Pant has showcased a unique brand of audaciousness when he walked out to the field to bat, showing zero respect to the elite bowlers of this generation with his unorthodox shots.
Rishabh Pant played several unorthodox shots as he ended the day’s play, unbeaten on 28. (Image: AP)
Sunil Gavaskar has taken a sly dig at Rishabh Pant claiming that having a cushion like the Indian Premier League, allows him to play the kind of shots that have made him a key member within the Test team.
Time and again Pant has showcased a unique brand of audaciousness when he walked out to the field to bat, showing zero respect to the elite bowlers of this generation with his unorthodox shots.
It was the same case when he came out to the middle and smashed Boland for a boundary towards long-off in his first ball of the second innings at Adelaide.
Gavaskar, during the post-match coverage with Star Sports after the end of the second day’s play, suggested that those players in the pre-IPL era did not have the luxury of falling back on their IPL contracts, should their international careers not work out.
“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,” he shared.
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,” he added.
By the end of the second day’s play, India is in a precarious position with Pant unbeaten on 28 runs along with Nitish Reddy on 15 runs. With no more quality batters left barring R Ashwin and the team trailing by 29 runs in the second innings, the visitors will hope that the unbeaten pair can put together a good partnership to help India set a target on the board.
Australia however, has the upper hand having performed significantly better with both bat and ball. Mitchell Starc has been outstanding with the pink ball, taking a six-fer in the first innings and the one in the second innings so far. Travis Head was the pick of the Aussie batters, having scored 140 runs in the first innings.
It would take a tremendous effort for India to come back into this contest, but Pant has had the knack of doing the impossible and Adelaide could be the next venue where he could showcase his class.
