Legendary Sunil Gavaskar said Rishabh Pant failed to live up to expectations after India suffered a 1-3 loss in the Border-Gavaskar series against Australia. Pant was the star of the show on the previous two tours of Australia and had played an instrumental role in India’s success.
Before the recently concluded Test series, Pant had scored 624 runs in seven Test matches against Australia while playing in Australian conditions.
However, Pant scored 255 runs in five Test matches on the 2024-25 tour at an average of 28.33. The left-hander scored a total of 101 runs in the fifth Test at the SCG but barring that Test, he could not come up with consistent performances as Pat Cummins kept him at bay.
“Yes, in the last tour that happened in 2020-21, he was the biggest difference. The way he batted in Sydney and Gabba, the Indian team was able to win the last series because of him only,” Sunil Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
Gavaskar noted that Pant had put pressure on Australia with his blistering knocks at Sydney and Gabba on previous tour.
“The way he kept the Australian bowlers on the back foot in Sydney and then in Brisbane, the expectations will definitely be there because if he has scored runs on such pitches, the thinking will be that once he returns there, he should score good runs,” Gavaskar observed.
On the other hand, former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan said it should be noted that Pant is making a comeback after a long time.
“You will also have to see that he returned from injury after a very long time. After that, he is playing Test cricket in Australia and we are expecting him to play like that only. The difference between coming to No. 5 from No. 6 on such pitches is that if you bat after keeping for 100 overs and two wickets fall early, which were consistently falling, you don’t have time for recovery,” he said.
Pathan said Pant should have batted at number six rather than number five in the BGT against Australia.
“That’s why there was a discussion about whether Rishabh Pant should bat at No. 6 only, especially in overseas conditions. It’s not only about technique, he has the technique. He put his body on the line in the first innings and in the second innings (in Sydney), he sent the ball over the line. He has the perfect game for No. 5 but I am thinking about recovery as a wicketkeeper-batter,” Pathan reasoned.
India will next take on England in three ODIs and five T20Is.
