Former India opener Gautam Gambhir lashed out at wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant for throwing his wicket away on Day 3 of the 2nd Test match between India and South Africa. Pant was dismissed on a duck in the second innings of the Johannesburg Test after playing a rash shot. He first got engaged in a war of words with Rassie Van der Dussen and then played an irresponsible to get out for a duck.
“The easier thing to do is to keep sledging someone and the toughest thing is what you have to face when you have a bat in your hand. I would have liked Rishabh to probably fight in that situation rather than stepping out and going for a big one,” said Gambhir on the post-stumps show on Star Sports.
The former India opener didn’t mince his words while bashing the wicketkeeper batter and said he should learn a lot of things from South Africa skipper Dean Elgar.
“Disappointment is a very, very understated word to be honest because this is not how you should play Test cricket. Test cricket is about learning a lot from Dean Elgar and that’s the reason I have said that a lot of young Indian batters can learn a lot from Dean Elgar as well because when you play against world-class bowlers, they are not going to give you easy runs,” Gambhir added.
Elgar (46 batting off 121 balls) took some nasty blows off deliveries that spat off the cracks but kept his team on course at 118 for 2 in pursuit of a tricky 240-run target set by India in the wake of a solid century-plus partnership from the under-fire duo of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane.
