IND vs SA: Won't Be A Big Thing If Rishabh Pant Is Made To Sit Out As A Lesson - Reetinder Sodhi

Former Indian cricketer Reetinder Sodhi reckons that Indian wicket-keeper batter, Rishabh Pant, might be made to sit out of the next match against South Africa as a ‘punishment’ for his manner of dismissal in Johannesburg.

Pant played a terribly reckless shot in the second innings when India needed to stabilise. Although it is his usual style of play, the situation called for circumspection before taking the aggressive route.

“There was a time when if you played a bad shot and your team suffered because of that, you were made to sit out the next match as a lesson. That is not the case now, Rishabh Pant is your superstar.“

“But whether a big or small player makes a mistake, a mistake is a mistake. Rishabh Pant would have been spoken to a lot and it will not be a huge thing even if he is made to sit out as a lesson because these mistakes are happening repeatedly,” Sodhi stated.

He is a huge asset to the team – Saba Karim on Rishabh Pant

Saba Karim, on the other hand, felt that Pant should play the next Test despite what happened last week. He has performed brilliantly in Australia and those performances warrant a longer rope, said, Karim.

“He [Rishabh Pant] should definitely play. Has any big cricketer not played a shot like this before and gotten dismissed because of that? It used to happen in a different era, 20-25 years ago.“

“This is how you learn. You will have to talk to him and make that player understand, so that learns a lot from this. He is a huge asset to the team. We forget very quickly, would we have won the series in Australia if this player had not made runs,” Karim mentioned.

The third and final Test will begin on January 11 in Cape Town.

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