 "Gautam Gambhir and Shubman Gill slammed over Rishabh Pant criticism. Image: X/@flamboypant")
India cricket fans are not happy with head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Shubman Gill after their recent comments about vice-captain Rishabh Pant following the team’s loss in the first Test against England at Leeds.
In the post-match press conference, Gautam Gambhir refused to praise Pant’s incredible performance, saying that there were three more centuries as well. Pant scored two centuries (134 and 118) in the same match and created a record. Gambhir was asked by a journalist to comment on the effort.
“Test cricket is about winning matches, not celebrating milestones. There are three more centuries as well. Those are big positives as well. Thank you,” Gambhir said.
Meanwhile, Shubman Gill seemed to point fingers at Pant during the post-match presentation. Talking about Ravindra Jadeja’s bowling, he said, “He (Jadeja) bowled brilliantly, I think he did produce some chances for us, a few pop-ups that Rishabh didn’t see, but that happens in a game of cricket.”
Pant had dropped one catch of Harry Brook when he was on 53. Brook went on to score 99 before getting out to Prasidh Krishna. Brook had earlier survived after being caught off a no-ball from Jasprit Bumrah when he was yet to open his account.
Here’s how social media reacted to Gambhir and Gill’s comments
These remarks didn’t go down well with many fans. On social media, several people accused Gambhir and Gill of targeting Pant unfairly. Some fans defended the criticism, saying that mistakes have to be talked about honestly.