Former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin was involved in a heated argument with the presenter on his YouTube channel regarding Rishabh Pant’s controversial batting approach in Tests. The legendary spinner opined that now that the wicketkeeper is an experienced player in the side, his decision-making should improve as a batter for the team’s sake.
Ravichandran Ashwin interrupted the presenter, who was speaking highly of Rishabh Pant’s approach and performances in the recently concluded series against Sri Lanka. The left-handed batter suffered multiple blows while trying to play some of his trademark unorthodox shots, but scored two crucial fifties as well.
The Indian legend recalled how Rishabh Pant has lost his wicket at crucial times for the team in the past, and that his approach cannot be compared to the likes of Virender Sehwag and Adam Gilchrist because they played according to the situation.
“My expectations and hopes from Rishabh Pant have not been fulfilled in this series. Because there is something called decision-making. Virender Sehwag used to play a high-flying brand of cricket, Gilchrist also used to play that brand of cricket, but they didn’t get out trying to step out and take down Marco Jansen when you’re 500 runs behind. They didn’t get caught behind to Kagiso Rabada at Centurion while trying to step down and hit him,” Ravichandran Ashwin argued.
Rishabh Pant was dismissed for seven runs off eight deliveries while leading the side during the second Test against South Africa in Guwahati last year. The team were struggling at 105-4 after the Proteas piled on 489 in the first innings when the southpaw tried to take down an in-form Marco Jansen.
Ashwin also brought up Rishabh Pant’s infamous unorthodox shot during the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, which had angered Sunil Gavaskar on commentary as well.
“You live by the sword, die by the sword, do whatever you want. All I am saying is that do not place these marketing lines in front of me ever again. Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, are also once in a generation players, I want to watch the game because of them also, don’t give one person special treatment. I’ll say this again, the shot that Rishabh Pant tried playing in Australia and got out, that was completely wrong. Were you going to win the match for India by playing that shot?” he continued.
Have a look at the intense argument right here (from 22:00 onwards).
Rishabh Pant recently lost his vice-captaincy post to KL Rahul and also lost his place in the ODI setup, with Ishan Kishan making a comeback.
“Because of his decision-making, he is not playing the other two formats” – R Ashwin’s brutal remark on Rishabh Pant
R Ashwin also opined that Rishabh Pant’s volatile decision-making while batting has cost him a place in the white-ball format squads. The southpaw was once an all-format wicket-keeper for Team India, but has only featured in one ODI since the start of 2023, and has not played a single T20I since the 2024 T20 World Cup.
“Rishabh Pant is an experienced player, so he has to take up responsibility while playing for this inexperienced and new Indian team. So don’t keep saying once in a generation player and all that. Sure, but because of his decision making, he is not playing the other two formats,” Ashwin concluded.
To make matters worse for Rishabh Pant, he has produced dismal numbers in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as well in recent seasons. He recently completed a switch to his former franchise, the Delhi Capitals (DC), after a disastrous two-year stint with the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).
Edited by Gokul Nair
