Sunil Gavaskar says Hardik Pandya's mistake is unforgivable

Hardik Pandya was involved in a disastrous run out on Day 3 of the 2^nd Test between South Africa and India at Centurion. Following that, he was heavily criticised by the commentators for his casual approach while running. Pandya hit a ball to mid-on and was looking to snatch a quick single but was sent back by Virat Kohli. Pandya seemed to be comfortably in but it was certain after the replay that he did not ground his bat which cost him his wicket.

Most people on social media also thought that it was disappointing because dragging the bat in while running is some of the basic stuff in cricket and such mistakes on an important stage are rarely forgettable. Sunil Gavaskar criticised Pandya’s lack of effort to be ‘unforgivable.’  “Casual. No, not just casual, that is unforgivable,” said Gavaskar on air. Sanjay Manjrekar managed to link Pandya’s attitude to arrogance.

Also read: Twitter takes Hardik Pandya’s case after a lazy run-out

His dismissal caused glum faces in the Indian dressing room and for the Indian fans as well because Kohli was taking charge of proceedings while Pandya took the anchor’s role during their partnership. It was gifting a wicket, in the truest sense. Going back to text commentary on Cricbuzz, it was a mistake on Pandya’s part also because “there was no single when he pushed this to mid-on, was halfway down when Kohli sent him back. Then comes the real drama – he takes it easy and lazily tries to plonk his bat in, but the bat and feet are in the air outside the crease when the throw hit direct.”

India were all out for 307 with Kohli being the highest scorer (154). If Hardik Pandya had survived, India might have been able to clear the meagre deficit of 20-odd runs and perhaps take a decent lead. Moreover, on a pitch where the rest of the Indian team batsmen were unable to help Kohli out, Pandya was tackling the South African pace quartet well, but with that disaster of a run-out, he had to walk back to the pavilion with 15 runs only.