I’m certain Dravid must have given him a bamboo: Sunil Gavaskar on Rishabh Pant

Sunil Gavaskar; (right) Rishabh Pant walks back after being dismissed for a duck on Wednesday. Pics/AFP

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has again lashed out at Rishabh Pant's manner of dismissal in the second innings against South Africa at the Wanderers, saying that he was sure head coach Rahul Dravid must have given the wicketkeeper-batsman "a bamboo" for the way he got out.

Pant bagged a three-ball duck in India's second innings total of 266 on Day Three, but it was the brain-fade manner of dismissal which set the cricketing world on fire. After being beaten outside the off-stump, Kagiso Rabada rattled Pant with a snorter of a delivery, hitting him on the gloves through a ball which went past his helmet grille. On the very next ball, Pant stepped out to slog on a short ball from Rabada but gave a feather edge behind to Verreynne.

Gavaskar, while speaking to Star Sports, also pointed out that Pant dancing down the pitch every time against the pacers won't work. "This is something we saw against England, at the start of the series. When England came to India, he was jumping down the pitch and trying to hit James Anderson, he did that so well. But after that he seems to think that is the only way to play.

"That is not the way to play and I am pretty certain that in the change room, Dravid would have given him a hearing, or as they say in cricket, Dravid must have given him a bamboo." Gavaskar further said that Pant had achieved success in the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy because of application and gauging how the pitch behaved in Australia, something which has been missing in the ongoing tour of South Africa, summed up by his reckless shot.

"This is something one can understand if Pant had been batting on 30 and 40. This is something he had not done in Australia. There he applied himself, recognised that there will be hard times at the beginning when you come in to bat and then battling through the hard times, he got set and got to know how the pitch is. And then he played the big shots. That's what he did in Australia."

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