"That is not cricket" - Indian legend blasts England's tactics against injured Rishabh Pant on Day 3 of ENG vs IND 2025 3rd Test

Former Indian opening batter Sunil Gavaskar called out England's tactics against an injured Rishabh Pant on day three of the third Test at the Lord's Cricket Ground. With Pant playing through a finger injury, the home side used the short ball to make the left-handed batter comfortable but Gavaskar blasted it by saying that is not cricket.

The finger injury sustained by the 27-year-old rendered him off the field for half of day one, with spare keeper Dhruv Jurel standing behind the stumps. Jurel also kept wickets on day two until England were bowled out but Pant came to bat and got through to stumps unbeaten at 19 off 33 deliveries.

Although the southpaw played a hook off Ben Stokes' bowling for a six, a lot of short balls made him comfortable. Speaking on commentary, Gavaskar said, as quoted by India Today:

"Fifty-six percent of the balls bowled today have been short. They have four fielders on the boundary waiting for the bouncer. That is not cricket, according to me. When the West Indies were bowling short, they brought in a rule for only two bouncers per over. That was to restrict the strength of the West Indies."

The 76-year-old called for ex-captain and chairman of ICC Men's Cricket Committee Sourav Ganguly to rule out more than six fielders on the leg side moving forward.

"Now we are seeing bouncers being bowled. Look at the field that has been arranged. This is not cricket. There should not be more than six fielders on the leg side. If Sourav Ganguly, who is the chairman of the ICC Men's Cricket Committee, is watching this, please make sure that next time not more than six fielders can be kept on the leg side."

The Indian keeper-batter also had to get some treatment on his finger due to the blow taken while batting.

Rishabh Pant shared a 141-run stand with KL Rahul

Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul (Credits: Getty)

Despite the agony caused by the finger injury, Pant stitched together a crucial 141-run stand with KL Rahul before being dismissed for 74 on day three as Ben Stokes affected a run-out to catch the keeper-batter short at the non-striker's end. The breakthrough for England before lunch slightly dented the tourists.

Rahul got to his century but Shoaib Bashir dismissed him immediately after that, At the time of writing this, India were 295/5, with Nitish Kumar Reddy and Ravindra Jadeja giving them some semblance of control.