Watch viral video: Rishabh Pant's ‘stupid shot’ lets India down; Sunil Gavaskar hints IND batter was playing for AUS

Legendary Sunil Gavaskar minced no words for Rishabh Pant after the India wicketkeeper-batter threw away his wicket on Day 3 of the fourth Test against Australia in Melbourne in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) on Saturday.

Starting the day batting on six, Pant played some beautiful cricketing shots on his way to 28. However, his decision to play a big shot against Scott Boland didn't pay off as the Indian southpaw failed to connect the ball properly, and it went straight up for Nathan Lyon to complete an easy catch at third man. It was also Australia's first wicket of the day.

Reacting to this, Gavaskar, who was commentating for the game, lost his cool on Pant. “Stupid, stupid, stupid," Gavaskar said on-air while commentating for ABC Sport.

"You’ve got two fielders there, and you still go for that. You missed the previous shot. And look where you have been caught. You have been caught at deep third man.

“That is throwing away your wicket. Not in the situation that India was in, you have to understand the situation as well. You cannot say that’s your natural game. I’m sorry. That’s not your natural game. That is a stupid shot. That is letting your team down badly!” added Gavaskar.

The former India captain also directed Pant to not go into the Indian dressing room after his dismissal. “He should not be going in that dressing room! He should be going in the other dressing room," said Gavaskar.

Sundar, Reddy keep India alive

At Tea on Day 3, young Nitish Kumar Reddy was going strong on an unbeaten 85 off 119 balls to keep India in the contest as the visitors reached 326/7 when bad light and a drizzle forced the umpires to take the second break before the scheduled time at the MCG.

Giving company to Reddy was Washington Sundar, who was batting on an unbeaten 40. This was after India lost the overnight pair of Pant and Ravindra Jadeja before reaching 244/7 at lunch.

India, who started the day on 164/5 and 310 runs in arrears, were helped by the unbroken 105-run eight-wicket partnership between Reddy and Washington.

With PTI inputs