"Could Rohit Sharma have come at No. 5?" - Sanjay Bangar on Rishabh Pant's dismissal in BGT 2024-25 3rd Test
Sanjay Bangar said that he won't overanalyze Rishabh Pant's dismissal in India's first innings of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 third Test. However, the former India batting coach questioned whether Rohit Sharma could have promoted himself ahead of the wicketkeeper-batter considering the game situation.
Pant was dismissed for nine as India were reduced to 51/4 in response to Australia's 445-run total in the third Test in Brisbane on Monday, December 16. KL Rahul (33*) and Rohit (0*) were the unbeaten batters at the crease at stumps.
During a discussion on Star Sports, Bangar was asked about Pant enduring another failure in the ongoing BGT.
"In the last two innings, with the pink ball as well, he got good balls very early on in his innings. You get such balls for sure. So I wouldn't try to analyze too much if I had been there. However, the top order will have to take slightly more responsibility," he responded.
"Also if three wickets had fallen at such a stage, could Rohit Sharma have come at No. 5 from No. 6? That question definitely comes to my mind because if he has been opening the batting and there was such a situation in the match, could that change have happened? Rishabh Pant can leave his impact at No. 6 also," Bangar added.
Rishabh Pant walked out to bat when India were reduced to 22/3 in the eighth over at the fall of Virat Kohli's wicket. He added 22 runs for the fourth wicket with KL Rahul before edging a Pat Cummins delivery to Alex Carey behind the wickets.
"There is a reason why he is a No. 5 batter" - Deep Dasgupta on Rishabh Pant's mode of dismissal
![Rishabh Pant hasn't scored a half-century in the ongoing BGT. [P/C: Getty]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/12/72f0e-17343503065193-1920.jpg?w=500)
In the same discussion, Deep Dasgupta was asked about Rishabh Pant's modes of dismissals in the ongoing series.
"They were all good balls. There is a reason why he is a No. 5 batter. He is not an opener or a No. 3 but a No. 5. When you see his dismissals outside the off-stump, you should see when he came to bat. The ball was new here and went away after pitching," he replied.
The former India wicketkeeper added that an aggressive middle-order batter like Pant can't be criticized for playing with hard hands.
"It's not that he played a bad shot. He got out while defending. We could talk about the hard hands and all, but a No. 5 batter has hard hands, and that is why he is a middle-order batter. Very few middle-order batters, especially stroke players, don't have hard hands. You don't want to be too critical about it," Dasgupta observed.
Pant has aggregated 96 runs at an average of 19.20 in five innings in BGT 2024-25. The hero of India's Brisbane win in their last tour Down Under has a top score of 37 in the ongoing series.