Rishabh Pant talks to himself in agitation after failed scoop shot almost leads to disaster: ‘Kuch alag karne ki...'

Rishabh Pant continued to enthral the Leeds crowd with his audacious stroke-making on Day 4 of the opening Test against England. The wicketkeeper batter, who slammed a brilliant century in the first innings, batted with the same attacking approach in the second, where he joined hands with KL Rahul after skipper Shubman Gill's early departure on Day 4. The left-handed batter took the challenge head-on, launching a counter-attack against the English bowlers despite the testing overcast conditions. India's Rishabh Pant miscued a scoop shot on Day 4.(AFP)

Meanwhile, in the attempt to play his usual audacious shots, he mistimed a few, which drew criticism from Dinesh Karthik, who was doing commentating duties.

It was the third ball of the 32nd over. Pant went on his knees and went for a slog sweep, which top-edged and ended up in the fine-leg region between the two fielders, and it raced away for a boundary.

"Considering the conditions and the situation of the game, I don't think that was the percentage shot. I know he's got the result, pretty successful one. But the odds were definitely not stacked in his favour. Playing the sweep to a bowler who's bowling 130 clicks above 140 doesn't make sense to me. He thought he'd gone there. He saw he'd gone straight up. His reaction was almost, I'm not running here. Someone's going to catch this, but the wind took it away from the slip cordon," Karthik said during commentary.

Later in the same over, Pant attempted another flashy shot and went on his knees to play a scoop, but missed the timing on it. England skipper Ben Stokes also appealed for a LBW dismissal and took the review but the replay showed a slight edge on the bat.

After the end of the over, Pant was livid with himself and was seen talking to himself about playing with some control and not going after everything.

“I hope he listens to himself”: Dinesh Karthik

Pant said to himself, 'Tez ball hai Rishabh, maarna hai toh seedha lag jaayega naa iss ball pe, kuch alag karne ki zarurat nahi hai."

Karthik translated Pant's inner dialogue on air and said, “First up, he said to himself, play with the straight bat, I can still middle it. Don't try to do too much. He is almost talking himself into saying he doesn't need to do anything out of the ordinary. He's pretty disappointed with what he did, but I hope he listens to himself.”

Earlier, Rahul and Gill resumed the Indian innings on Day 4 but the visitors lost their skipper early on 8 after he edged the ball onto stumps to become Brydon Carse's victim. However, Rahul was once again watchful and disciplined with his approach as he completed his half-century.

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