Sunil Gavaskar can’t keep calm on live TV, uses new ‘S’ word in stunning reaction to Rishabh Pant’s record century

Sunil Gavaskar could not keep calm after Rishabh Pant got to his record 7th Test century with a six off Shoaib Bashir on Day 2 of the first Test against England in Leeds on Saturday. The legendary Indian cricketer, who had slammed Pant for his poor shot selection in the Melbourne Test, with a “stupid, stupid, stupid,” rant on ABC Radio, took a sensational U-turn by using three new words to describe Rishabh Pant’s innings.

“Superb, superb, superb. Absolutely terrific by the young man,” went Gavaskar when Pant vroomed past former India captain MS Dhoni’s record for most Test centuries by an Indian wicketkeeper-batter. Six out of seven centuries of Rishabh Pant have come in SENA countries. He has only one century at home, and if he had converted his seven 90-plus scores into three figures, he would have been breathing down Adam Gilchrist’s all-time record of 17 Test centuries as a keeper-batter.

Pant, a classic example of living by the sword and also dying by it, is naturally unapologetic about his approach. He thoroughly entertained the capacity crowd at Headingley towards the end of Day 1 and continued the same in the first session of Day 2, to reach his third Test century on English soil. Just to put Pant’s talent into perspective, no other visiting keeper-batter has got more than one Test century in England.

Pant hit six sixes and 12 fours in his breathtaking knock that had the ideal mix of caution and aggression. But as is the case with Pant, it doesn’t always go in his favour, especially when he plays those high-risk shots. As he found out on the third morning of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG. Despite knowing there was a third man in place, Pant went for a lap sweep off Scott Boland and ended up top-edging it straight to third man. This was when he had done all the hard work to get through the first hour of the morning session.

Sunil Gavaskar to Rishabh Pant: From ‘Stupid, Stupid, Stupid’ to ‘Superb, Superb, Superb’

“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” was Gavaskar’s immediate reaction on ABC Radio. “You’ve got two fielders there, and you still go for that, you’ve missed the previous shot. And look where you’ve been caught. You’ve been caught at deep third man. That is throwing away your wicket. Not in the situation that India was. You have to understand the situation as well; you cannot say that’s your natural game. I’m sorry, that is not your natural game. That is a stupid shot. That is letting your team down badly!”

The former India captain, however, had no qualms in doffing his hat to Pant. “It seems like that’s how he plays. When he comes in to bat, on the second or third ball, he often uses his feet and hits a boundary. It makes him feel free and then allows him to play the way he wants. Over here, he’s been measured in his approach—giving himself time out in the middle. But once he’s in and the bowlers start to tire, that’s when he begins to step down the pitch and really attack, hitting big shots, sixes, and boundaries.”

“Because he gives himself that time early on, it becomes easier for him to play those aggressive strokes later. When he defends, he seems to have so much time against the pace bowlers—it almost looks like he’s taking the mickey out of them, saying, “Look, I’ve got all the time in the world; I don’t need to play a big shot, I’m just middling the ball. He’s got enormous talent. I’ve seen him score hundreds in South Africa and Australia, and they’ve been absolutely unbelievable. There’s such a great blend of defence and attack—starting with solid defence and then shifting to attack,” he further added.