Rishabh Pant's white-ball struggles continue to haunt him as the player once again failed to impress with the bat on Sunday. The southpaw scored 14 runs off 12 balls in India's five-wicket loss to Pakistan in the Super 4 match of the ongoing Asia Cup on Sunday. Pant attempted a reverse-sweep off Shadab Khan but his failure in its execution saw him handing an easy catch to Asif Ali at a crucial juncture in the game. The wicketkeeper-batter received a lot of flak for his mode of dismissal and former international cricketers, including the likes of Gautam Gambhir and Wasim Akram, were also critical of his shot selection at such a stage in the game.
"Rishabh Pant must be disappointed today (Sunday) because that (reverse-sweep) is not his shot. His shot is to probably try to hit over long-on or deep mid-wicket. You end up getting out there, you can take it because that is your strength. Your strength is not reverse-sweeping," said Gambhir on Star Sports after the match.
Meanwhile, former Pakistan pacer Wasim Akram also agreed with Gambhir's opinion.
"And especially Gauti (Gautam Gambhir) at that stage of the game. There was no need to play that shot. I know he plays that shot in Test cricket. I know he is one of the top players in world cricket... but in this stage of the game that shot wasn't required," said the Pakistan great.
When Pant fell on the reverse-sweep, India's scoring rate was over nine but his wicket gave Pakistan an edge in the game.
Riding on Virat Kohli's 60 off 44, India posted 181 for 7. In reply, Pakistan reached home on the penultimate ball with 5 wickets in hand, thanks to Mohammad Rizwan's 71 off 51 and Mohammad Nawaz's 42 off 20.