Pant’s dismissal leads to on-air meltdown in fiery sledging episode: ‘That’s why you’re not head coach, just assistant’

Day 3 in Melbourne was supposed to be an iconic Rishabh Pant as the wicketkeeper-batter resumed batting for India in the ongoing fourth Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test match, on Saturday. But it didn’t go according to plan, as he got caught in the deep after a miscued ramp, adding to India’s struggles. He was on 28, with the visitors at 191/5, in response to Australia’s first innings total of 474, and ended up playing a full delivery by Scott Boland in rather poor attempt, as he tried to scoop it, but got a top-edge and it flew to third man for a catch.

It was disappointing for Pant as he survived for the opening 40-45 minutes on Day 3, but an error saw him lose his wicket soon. Reacting to Pant’s dismissal, two Australia legends got into a disagreement, with one sledging the other in the process. Speaking on Fox Cricket, Mark Waugh criticised Pant, calling it ‘unacceptable’.

On-air meltdown between two Australian legends

“That’s unacceptable. I know he’s a very aggressive player and a player that is a bit out of the box and unpredictable but you’ve got to read the game situation and read the field. There were two men back for that exact shot so the percentages are not in your favour, unless you hit it for six you’re going to be caught somewhere in the deep,” he said.

“It’s just too hard of a shot and too risky of a shot to play with any degree of confidence and I’d be pulling him into line saying you didn’t need to do that. If you’re going to be attacking, run at the bowler and hit him over mid-off, I’d much rather that shot than that shot,” he added.

To Waugh’s dismay, Michael Hussey disagreed with him on the panel, and defended Pant. “It’s a hard one though isn’t it because that’s the way he likes to play, he likes to play these crazy shots and if you start putting too much doubt in his mind then it might just confuse him more. It is a poor shot, don’t get me wrong,” he said.

Meanwhile, England legend Michael Vaughan, who was also present in the conversation, joined the conversation and tried to support Hussey’s argument. He said, “Rishabh Pant is an exceptional talent, he plays in a way that not many play the game, wouldn’t you give him the licence to keep on playing in that fashion?”

Waugh wasn’t ready to back down in the debate, and continued with his criticism of Pant. He said, “No, because that’s not an excuse.”

“That’s an awful shot when his team needed him to make an innings. I get it he’s an aggressive player and I want to see him be aggressive but you’ve still got to have some boundaries with the shots you play. There’s got to be a level of restraint and percentages in your favour and that shot falling down.”

Once again rejoining the conversation, Hussey felt that if Pant had hit a six, then Waugh would have praised him in the commentary box. The former player remarked that he didn’t want Pant to change the way he plays. This didn’t end the debate as Waugh had the final say and asked Hussey, “So you’re saying that’s ok, as a coach?”

“Yep, I’d say go for it mate, do what you want to do,” Hussey replied.

“That’s why you’re not head coach, just assistant coach,” Waugh fired back, with Hussey, Vaughan laughing in response. Waugh’s dig was in reference to Hussey’s tenure as an assistant coach to the England T20 squad and in the IPL.

Day 3 saw a late rescue act from Nitish Kumar Reddy, who staged a comeback. Coming to bat with India at 191/6, he got his maiden Test ton and remained unbeaten at 105*, taking the visitors to 358/9 at Stumps, and they trail by 116 runs.