"These Are Quite Impactful Runs": Sunil Gavaskar Praises Rishabh Pant's Fifty In SCG Test

Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar said that wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant's valuable half-century were "impactful runs" in helping his team gain a sizeable lead over Australia at the end of the day two of fifth Test and also for playing some fine shots throughout his knock "in the front of the wicket". Pant finally scored a half-century, getting his fifty in just 30 balls during day two of the Test match at Sydney. The half-century came after a frustrating wait to convert his fine starts into something more meaningful that lasted four Test matches. However, he lost his wicket to Aussie skipper Pat Cummins and India ended at 141/6, with a lead of 145 runs.

Speaking on Star Sports, Gavaskar said about Rishabh's knock, "These are quite impactful runs, and he is the reason India has scored these runs because he has scored half of those runs. But the difference between the shot that he played at Melbourne versus the shot that he has played here, the difference is that the shots that he played today were in front of the wickets, he did play a shot towards the square-leg, he capitalised on Mitchell Starc's angle and flicked it on the square-leg. And the strength that he possesses of playing down the ground and hitting big sixes in those regions, he capitalised on it. He tried to scoop the ball once and was not successful, he also tried to reverse scoop then too he was not successful and then he planned to play straight and he was successful in doing so. That is his normal game."

During the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Pant has not been at his absolute best but still made 255 runs in five matches and nine innings at an average of 28.33, and a strike rate of 59.02, with one half-century. He has been unable to convert