A livid Sunil Gavaskar did not spare Rishabh Pant for the "shocking" and "terrible" shot that he played to throw his wicket in the morning session of Day 3 in the fourth Test against Australia in Melbourne. Pant, who looked to be in total control of the proceedings, riding the bounce of Pat Cummins and Scott Boland and even finding ways to score runs dissecting the unorthodox field placements, suddenly lost his way. A ball after getting hit on the ribs attempting a falling flick of Scott Boland's bowling, Pant went for the same shot despite Australia having fine leg, square leg and third man back on the boundary and ended up getting a top edge to third man to lose his wicket for 28.

Gavaskar was absolutely livid with Pant's shot selection, which gave Australia their first breakthrough on Day 3. The legendary Indian cricketer said Pant should not even think about returning to the Indian dressing room after playing that shot.

“Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! He should not be going into that (India’s) dressing room - he should be going into the other dressing room!" Gavaskar said on ABP Sport radio.

"Shoking! Both the dismissal and running. No need for such runs and shots at this time. It could also be because of the way Australia have bowled, no free runs, no singles on offer. It's not T20 cricket or 50 overs cricket," he said on commentary.

Pant, who generally plays an attacking game and finds unusual areas to score runs, was slammed for not reading the match situation. Gavaskar was miffed at the India keeper for attempting that falling lap shot with two fielders in the deep, and India were in need of a desperate partnership.

"Earlier, when there were no fielders around, he attempted those shots. This is understandable because you are taking a calculative risk. Here, the fielder was placed in the deep. He, however, wanted to go over the leg, but it went to the offside, so you could say maybe there was a little bit of bad luck involved, but it was a terrible selection of a shot at that point in time with two fielders down in the deep," Gavaskar said in the Lunch break show on Star Sports.

‘Pant shouldn’t bat at No.5 if he continues to bat like this': Gavaskar

The former captain of India expressed that if Pant continues to approach his batting in this manner, he should not occupy the No. 5 position in the batting lineup.

"It seems that this is the only method through which he believes he can accumulate runs, indicating that he is unlikely to score in a conventional manner. He tends to advance down the pitch, striking the ball over long-on or executing similar shots, but at the Test level, such a strategy cannot guarantee consistent success. Consequently, one must be ready to accept that while he may contribute runs at times, he is not suited to bat at No. 5 and should instead be positioned lower in the order.

"It is indeed frustrating. He has been dismissed 13 times between the scores of 20 and 39, while achieving scores of 50 or more only three times. In 18 innings, if he has managed three scores above 50, that translates to one half-century every six innings. Is that performance adequate for a No. 5 batsman?" he remarked.

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