It prompted rueful laughter in Rohit's post-game media conference, given those circumstances on Monday afternoon were far from isolated.
Two days after his first-innings dismissal prompted the now-famous "stupid, stupid, stupid" rant from commentator Sunil Gavaskar, the Indian wicketkeeper again tried to go big and went home instead.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" 😡— ABC SPORT (@abcsport) � Safe to say Sunny wasn't happy with Rishabh Pant after that shot.Read more: https://t.co/bEUlbXRNpm💻� Live blog: https://t.co/YOMQ9DL7gm🟢 Listen live: https://t.co/VP2GGbfgge #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/Fe2hdpAtVlDecember 28, 2024
Pant and opener Yashasvi Jaiswal had batted through Monday's middle session, taking India from a perilous 3-33 to 3-121 after tea.
Maybe, just maybe, the tourists could hang on for a draw?
But Pant (30) disastrously tried to belt part-time spinner Travis Head for six and holed out to Mitch Marsh, who took an excellent coach at deep mid-wicket.
India never recovered and were dismissed for 155, giving Australia victory in an absorbing Boxing Day Test.
In the first innings, Pant had tried a curious hoik off Scott Boland and was hit in the midriff as he fell over.
Pant tried the exact same shot next delivery and was caught by Nathan Lyon for 28, with Australia's leg-side trap working beautifully.
Cue Gavaskar's furious reaction.
Strike one: Pant is hit by Boland on Saturday, one ball before he fell trying the same stroke. (James Ross/AAP PHOTOS)
The problem is, when Pant gets it right, he is a formidable big hitter.
"Rishabh Pant, obviously, look - he needs to understand what is required from himself, more than any one of us telling him," Rohit said of the second-innings dismissal.
"It's about him understanding and figuring out what is the right way to go about it. In the past, he's given us a lot of success, doing what he does.
"As a captain, there's a kind of mixed reaction to that. Sometimes you want to back ... him playing the way he plays, and sometimes when things don't look good, it frustrates everyone.
"That is what it is. That's the reality. It's the success and the failure. There needs to be a balance about it."
Rohit said he goes back a long way with Pant and has had many chats with him about how he bats.
"It's about him figuring out what's the right way to do things. It's just about the situation as well ... do you want to take that risk, do you want to let the opposition come back into the game?" he said.
"Those are the things he needs to figure out himself.
"It's just that fine line between telling him not to do those things or telling him to do those things."
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