NEW DELHI: Rishabh Pant will always remain true to his own brand of cricket - you can admire it or criticise it, but you cannot change it.
That has long been the underlying sentiment within Indian cricket about a player widely regarded as the modern Test team's most explosive match-winner.
Pant's approach has always been a daring balance between brilliance and recklessness, and at times, the two can become indistinguishable.
The nightmare reign of Gautam Gambhir in Test cricket: Whitewashed and outplayed
On Monday, when Pant charged down the pitch with the conviction of a man intent on sending Marco Jansen's delivery from Barsapara all the way to Kaziranga, one could hardly fault head coach Gautam Gambhir for feeling a strong sense of déjà vu.
The situation demanded a calmer, more calculated approach from the Indian captain, and the shot simply wasn't on. Just a few balls earlier, Pant had attempted something similar and survived only through sheer luck.
It's unclear whether Pant and Gambhir shared any pointed words about the shot selection during the lunch interval.
Rewinding to the Boxing Day Test of 2024, Pant's two dismissals in that match only reignited the ongoing debate surrounding his shot selection.
Washington Sundar backs Rishabh Pant as India face series defeat in Guwahati Test
Especially the second innings stroke when India were about two hours away from saving the fourth Test at the MCG. Against Travis Head's part-time spin, Pant went for a slog sweep and posted the ball into hands of the fielder specially stationed for that particular shot.
Those in the corridors of power centre in the Indian team recollect that Gambhir back then was livid. Because at the tea break, the message was to bat normally and not take undue risks with just one session left in the game.
In the first innings of that match, a needless fallen hook shot found the third man and that prompted an agitated Sunil Gavaskar to shout "Stupid, Stupid, Stupid" on air.
But Pant, who is a minefield of talent and capable of doing stuff that others can't even imagine, believed that "valour was a better part of discretion" and not the other way round as people might perceive it to be.
Now famous Gambhir's verbal lashing to the whole team after that MCG Test is a part of the folklore but that did make Pant show his defensive wares on a far difficult track during the first innings at Sydney.
In the second innings of that game, he again became the signature Pant but with better choice of shots.
Cut to Guwahati, what would make Pant ponder over his choices is the additional responsibility that has been entrusted on him in the absence of Shubman Gill.
While fearlessness, natural game and backing one's instincts are certainly the order of the day for the new age cricketers, old fashioned scrap when situation demands hasn't yet gone out of fashion.
A good defence at times sets one up for the best offence and Pant would only do himself a world of good to know that.
A high risk percentage game, on days when it doesn't come off can make one look really silly like it happened with the skipper but everyone knows that he is better than that.
If the captain doesn't show the way in terms of reading the match situation, he will not exactly be in a position to advise a Dhruv Jurel or a Sai Sudharsan to be more discreet.
The start needs to come from him.
On Monday, there was no Gavaskar to call on air but it wouldn't be of any harm if Pant feels that someone might have admonished him for that stroke.
He will have one more shot in this game where he can even try and win the game. Pant is fully capable of doing it. But for that he needs to accept that between win and lose, there is a respectable third option and that is a draw. And at times, that isn't a bad option either.
(With PTI Inputs)
