India's wicketkeeper-batsman scores attacking 91 but throws it away with reckless shot as hosts struggle at 257 for 6 after England finish on 578; Pujara says swashbuckler must be more sensible with shot selection and put team first
India's Rishabh Pant plays a cheeky shot during his 88-ball 91 on Day 3 of the first Test against England at Chennai yesterday;
Rishabh Pant’s edge-of-the-seat hitting ended with his now customary indiscretion, putting India under the pump against a supremely confident England, gunning for victory at the end of third day’s play in the opening Test here on Sunday.
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Pant scored a breathtaking 91 off 88 balls but then threw it away with a poor shot off Dom Bess as India finished the third day of the opening Test against England at 257 for six in reply to England’s massive first innings score of 578 with 122 runs still needed to avoid the follow-on. Pant and Cheteshwar Pujara (73 off 143 balls) added 119 runs for the fifth wicket. Washington Sundar (33 batting) and Ravichandran Ashwin (8 batting) were at the crease at stumps.
Pant smashed five towering sixes, all in the arc between long-on and deep mid-wicket, off left-arm spinner Jack Leach (17-2-94-0). Leach wanted to target the rough outside Pant’s off-stump but every time he tossed it up, the stocky man from Rourkee came out like a raging bull, who had been shown the red rag, and hit the spinner with the turn into the Chepauk stands. He dazzled with his brilliance and then in an annoying manner, forgot that discretion is always the better part of valour while trying to hit off-spinner Dom Bess (23-5-55-4) over extra cover against the spin. This was after dispatching England’s most successful bowler to the square leg boundary. And he found the only man stationed at the deep extra cover, none other than Leach, who latched onto it as if his life depended on it. It was an innings that can evoke different emotions depending on one’s perception of Pant.
India’s Cheteshwar Pujara celebrates his half century. Pics/BCCI
A Pant fan, who loves his craft, will feel an overriding sense of joy and exhilaration just seeing him hit Leach for four sixes few minutes after India were down and out at 73 for 4. But for a Test cricket fan exasperation can take over just thinking about the possibilities had he decided to exercise some caution. Pant has literally thrown away Test hundreds four times in his short career.
Pujara said the swashbuckler has to be more “sensible” with his shot selection while putting the team’s requirements above everything else. “It’s his [Pant] natural game so we cannot restrict him much. He can’t be too defensive because, by doing so, he can get out quickly. It is good for his game that he keeps on playing his shots but, at times, he has to be very selective. He has to put the team first and be little sensible at times. He has done that most of the times but there are times when he gets out and looks ugly,” said Pujara at the end of the day’s play.
“He needs to understand which shots to play and which not. He needs to understand in which situation it is important that he stays in the crease. He will learn from his mistakes. There are times when he can be little more patient and build partnerships and the coaching staff always communicates that to him,” added Pujara, who suffered a freak dismissal when his pull shot rebounded off Ollie Pop’s back and lobbed up to Rory Burns.
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