Sunil Gavaskar fires shots at Rishabh Pant over his unorthodox style: 'When you've cushion like IPL'

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has recently taken a brutal dig at the team's wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant for his unusual style of batting. Pant is known to play ultra-aggressive shots even in a format like Test cricket.

Despite the shots being risky, Pant has backed himself to play in an attacking way so far in Test cricket. When he came out to bat on Day 2 of the Adelaide Test with India reeling at 66-3, he was expected to bide his time and settle into the crease.

However, he danced down the track on his first ball to slam Scott Boland for a four over mid-off. A few balls later, Pant played an unusual ramp over the slip fielders for another boundary.

It has been the way how Rishabh Pant has played in his Test career so far and it has also brought him tremendous success. But it remains to be seen how he responds when he gets out playing such a shot in the upcoming matches.

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Sunil Gavaskar takes a brutal dig at Rishabh Pant

While speaking on Star Sports after the end of Day 2, Sunil Gavaskar spoke about Rishabh Pant's style of batting in Tests. Known for his conventional batting style, Gavaskar reasoned how players like Pant could afford to play in such an aggressive style.

The former India opener claimed that the players during his days didn't have a cushion like IPL like the modern-day players. According to Gavaskar, the IPL gives these players a perfect platform and they feel safe even if they are dropped from the national team.

"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," Gavaskar noted.

"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," Gavaskar said in the post-match show on Star Sports after the end of Day 2 in Adelaide," he added.

Rishabh Pant is yet to fire in BGT 2024-25

Rishabh Pant's unusual way of batting is entertaining but is also risky at the same time. The left-handed batter has found a huge amount of success by batting this way in his Test career so far.

Pant has played plenty of miraculous knocks during his short Test career so far. However, he is yet to fire in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy so far. He was dismissed after scoring 21 and 28 across both the innings in Adelaide.

Rishabh Pant's Test career

The 27-year-old has played 40 Tests and scored 2780 runs at an average of 42.76. He already has 6 hundreds and 14 fifties to his name in Test cricket. He is one of the most important players for India in Tests. His wicketkeeping has also improved over the years, making him one of the top wicketkeeper-batters in Test cricket currently.

Recently, Pant also became the most expensive player of the IPL when he was signed for INR 27 crore by Lucknow Super Giants. He played for Delhi Capitals till last year but was not included in the team's retention list for the next season.