Rohit Sharma on Rishabh Pant's shot selection: 'He needs to figure out what is the right way to do things'

India appeared to be headed towards a comfortable draw on Day 5 of the fourth Test against Australia. Rishabh Pant and Yashasvi Jaiswal stood in the middle and had carried the ship from a precarious 33/3, in chase of 340, at the end of the first session.

The duo ensured a wicketless second session and went to 112/3 at the Tea break. They added nine runs to the total before Pant played a perplexing shot and was holed out in the deep.



To a short delivery outside off by Travis Head, Pant went for the big hit, pulled it but failed to get the distance. Mitchell Marsh travelled to his left and latched on for India's fourth wicket.

That was the start of the collapse with India going from 121/3 to 155 all out - 7 wickets for 34 runs - and lost the Test by 184 runs.

This is not the first time Pant has been criticised for his shot-selection. India skipper Rohit Sharma addressed the issue in the post-match press conference.

"He needs to understand what is required of himself, more than any of us telling him. It's about him figuring out what is the right way to go about it. In the past he's given us a lot of success doing what he does so as a captain there's a mixed reaction to that. Sometimes you want to back that thought of him playing the way he plays, and sometimes when things don't look good, it frustrates everyone. The success and the failure, there needs to be a balance about it," said the India captain.

"As a captain, it is hard to have a conversation when it has given him a lot of success as well. But it is about him figuring out what is the right way to do things. It is about situation as well... if there is a risk percentage, do you want to take that risk, do you want to let the opposition come back into the game. Those are the things he needs to figure out himself."



"I know Rishabh for a very long time. I understand his cricket as well. In terms of conversations, it's not that there's not been a chat. He understands the expectations. The things that he does, gives him results also. So it is the fine line between telling him not to do those things and telling him to do those things," further added Rohit.

With the win in Melbourne, Australia have taken a 2-1 lead in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The series moves on to Sydney now with the fifth Test from 3 January.


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