Rishabh Pant should be criticized for his failures, not how he fails: Sanjay Manjrekar

When India travelled to Australia to play the five-match Test series for the coveted Border-Gavaskar Trophy, fans were hoping for a stellar performance from star wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant. The Haridwar-born had great success on his two previous red-ball trips Down Under. Cricket aficionados were hoping that he would repeat his heroics once again. However, the southpaw hasn't been able to live up to his potential as yet.

What has disappointed fans and experts the most is his shot selection. The 27-year-old got out trying to play a scoop in the first innings of the Boxing Day Test off Scott Boland. The legendary Sunil Gavaskar, who was on commentary, lambasted the cricketer for going for the extravagant hit, considering the position the team was in.

Also Read: Nitish Reddy definitely better than Hardik Pandya in Tests: Sunil Gavaskar

However, Sanjay Manjrekar highlighted Pant's impressive numbers in Test cricket and said that he should be criticised only because he isn't scoring the runs that are expected of him. Not because of the way he is getting out.

“Pant should be criticised only for his failures, rather than how he fails. He averages 42 in Tests with at least 3 great innings, ever played by an Indian! In 42 tests he has 6 hundreds & 7 nineties. He is a great player not scoring enough runs & that’s the crux of it,” wrote Manjrekar on his X account.

Check what Manjrekar wrote:

How has Rishabh Pant fared in Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25?

Pant has batted on seven occasions across the first four Tests in the ongoing tour. He has managed to aggregate a tally of just 154 runs at an abysmal average of 22. His highest score of 37 came in the first innings of the first Test, played at Perth.

Pant has got himself off to starts in five out of the seven innings. However, he hasn't managed to convert them into substantial scores. The flamboyant batter would want to finish the series on a high by doing well in the fifth Test in Sydney, which begins on Friday, January 3.