Indian cricket fans savage Rishabh Pant over 'awful' moment in ...

India's Rishabh Pant has come under fire across the cricket world after a moment of madness on day three of the fourth Test against Australia. Footage showed the Indian team engaged in serious conversations before play began on Saturday but the last thing the visitors needed was for Pant to throw his wicket away so needlessly in the first session as they set about hauling in Australia's big first innings target of 474, spearheaded by a stunning Steve Smith century.

Pant's dismissal was even harder to fathom after he tried and failed to belt Scott Boland down the ground on the previous delivery, only to be left lying in pain on the pitch. Pant walked across his stumps and tried to play a flamboyant shot through mid-wicket but edged it into his own stomach and was left in obvious discomfort as he keeled over on the MCG wicket.

India's Rishabh Pant threw his wicket away with a crazy shot on day three of the fourth Test against Australia. Pic: Getty

Remarkably, that scare didn't deter Pant from attempting the same shot again on the very next ball, when a more cautious approach was surely needed. Pant is a typically aggressive batter and obviously backed himself to stick to his natural attacking instincts but the Indian wicketkeeper was made to look silly after throwing his wicket away in bizarre fashion.

Pant fell to the deck as he tried to scoop Boland over the top on the leg side, only to catch a huge top edge and see the ball fall into the grateful hands of Nathan Lyon at third man. "Rishabh Pant tried one too many times and Scott Boland at the 'G gets the dangerous Rishabh Pant, Isa Guha said on Channel Seven's coverage.

Former Aussie Test quick Damien Fleming described it a 'crazy' shot for Pant to play in the circumstances and the last thing India needed as they looked to make inroads into Australia's formidable first innings total. "That is crazy, we were just talking about the leaders of the Indian team having a bit chat this morning, Fleming said.

"I'll tell you what they wouldn't have been talking about, reckless batting like this. And he got away with it the previous ball... there's two men out on the leg side but there is a third man and Nathan Lyon taking the room service catch easily delivered in the end."

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The Pant dismissal left India in a real hole at 6-191, still trailing Australia by 283 runs. And it meant India's last recognised batter had been sent back to the pavilion, leaving them with a mountain to climb to try and get something out of the Test. Not surprisingly, Indian cricket fans were left fuming after describing it as an 'irresponsible' and 'unnecessary' act at a crucial period in the match.

Pant I know you will stick to your natural game and would look cool if you could clear the rope but this innovation was totally unwanted could have stuck to aggressive batting with basic cricketing shots and looking to hit straight #AUSvsIND

— ????????????????????ᶜʳⁱᶜᵏᵉᵗᵍᵉᵉᵏ (@RoshanSriram123) December 28, 2024

Nathan Lyon finally grabbed his first wicket of the match when he trapped Jadeja LBW for 17, having been used sparingly across the first three Tests. The veteran Aussie spinner has seen his place in the starting XI come under question but chipped in to remove Jadeja and leave the tourists reeling at 7-244 at lunch.

India started day three on 5-164, with Pant and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja hoping to eat into Australia's mammoth first innings total. The visitors were looking in a strong position late on day two until a horrendous mix-up between Virat Kohli (36) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (82) that saw the young opener run out with a century in sight.

Virat Kohli had a heated moment with a section of the MCG crowd after being involved in a calamitous run out. Pic: X/Getty/Seven

Jaiswal's wicket sparked a collapse of 3-6 that swung the match firmly in Australia's favour, with the cricket world divided over whether the run-out was the opener's or Kohli's fault. It was Jaiswal's call because the ball went behind Kohli at the non-striker's end but the Indian veteran was not interested and held his ground, leaving his young teammate trudging back to the pavilion after Pat Cummins threw the ball to Alex Carey and the Aussie keeper whipped off the bails.

That came after Cummins picked up the first two wickets by removing under-fire skipper Rohit Sharma (three runs) and KL Rahul (24). Steve Smith's 34th Test century and a crucial late stand from Cummins (49) helped the Aussies to their imposing first innings total.