Rishabh Pant hogged the limelight for all wrong reasons in the opening session of Day 3 of the Johannesburg Test against South Africa. The wicketkeeper-batsman walked out to bat following two big wickets and had the onus to propel the visitors to a big score. But the youngster was dismissed in a bizarre way.

Rishabh danced down the track in search of a big hit off Kagiso Rabada. He ended up edging the ball to the wicketkeeper without opening his account. The manner in which he was dismissed left many surprised, including former India captain Sunil Gavaskar.

Gavaskar, who is in South Africa for the commentary duties, slammed Rishabh for his nonsense shot and said that there’s no excuse for this dismissal.

“You have got two new batsmen at the crease and then you saw that shot from Rishabh Pant. Forgettable, no excuses for that shot, no excuses. None of that nonsense about that being his natural game,” Gavaskar said in the commentary box.

“There is supposed to be a bit of responsibility shown. Because there are others taking the blows. There are guys like Rahane and Pujara who have taken it on their body. So you also fight it out. I tell you what, you won’t get too many kind words in the changing room.”

The big wickets of Pujara and Rahane pushed India to the backfoot and Rishabh’s dismissal added to the woes. The team management now has its hopes pinned on Hanuma Vihari, who is the sole specialist batsman left. India hold a lead of over 200 now.

Earlier in the day, Rahane and Pujara did well to mark India’s comeback as they put on 111 runs for the third wicket. Rahane, the former vice-captain, scored 58 while Pujara was dismissed for 86-ball 53. Skipper KL Rahul had scored 8 off 21 before being dismissed on day 2 while Mayank Agarwal was dismissed for a 37-ball 23.