Australia vs India 2018-19: Was Rishabh Pant's poor shot the reason for India's defeat in the 1st T20I?

India started their 2018-19 Australian tour on a bad note, losing the first T20I at Brisbane. A rain-curtailed encounter was reduced to 17 overs a side, and India were left to chase 174 to win. Despite Shikhar Dhawan's brilliant 76, Team India fell short by 4 runs in a cliffhanger.

One of the biggest turning points of the game was Rishabh Pant's wicket in the 16th over of the innings. When 18 runs were needed off 10 balls, the game was clearly in India's grasp. But Pant, who was looking well set and clearing boundaries at will, tried to be a little too cheeky.

He played a nothing shot, which looked like a scoop towards third-man with the face of the bat not entirely open. The ball caught the leading edge of the bat, only to soar up in the air and go straight into the hands of Jason Behrendorff at point.

India totally lost their momentum after Pant's dismissal, and ultimately failed to get over the finish line. You can watch the video of the dismissal here.

A dejected Pant was seen walking back to the pavilion in anguish, but he had only himself to blame. He had repeated his mistake from a critical juncture of a recent match, which suggested that he hadn't learned his lesson.

In the third T20I against the Windies at Chennai, Pant tried to play a similar shot and was knocked over. On that occasion too Pant was in no position to hit a boundary, and his eventual stroke looked neither here nor there.

When you are a clean-striker of the ball like Pant, it makes sense for you to back your power instead of trying cheeky shots - especially when you are so close to the target.

Innovation is not a bad thing to try in cricket. However, the match situation needs to be kept in mind at all times; clearly, the time was not right for Pant to play that kind of a shot at that moment.

The young dasher needs to learn from his mistakes and try to not repeat the same in the coming games.