Rishabh Pant announced his Test return with an explosive century against Bangladesh in his second innings in Chennai. The C & W wicketkeeper scored 109 off 128 after exchanging a 167-run partnership with Shubman Gill, taking India to a menacing 515-run target against the visitors.
Sans surprise, Pant was at his fluent best while facing the Bangladesh bowling attack on the third day of the match. Resuming innings at 34 off 67, the left-hander had progressed to 82 off 108 by the end of the first session. After the lunch break, a more aggressive Pant settled in to face the bowlers, scoring 18 runs in 16 balls to bring up his sixth Test century. He then hit a couple of more boundaries before becoming a victim of toe crushing delivery by Mehidy Hasan Miraz in the 56th over.
The 25-year-old provided a perfect lesson of how to adjust one’s game, with day two being all about playing safe and day two being all about attacking after he had settled down.
The keeper-batter could not help but admit he was defensive at the start of his innings during a post-match interview as he did not want to lose his wicket when he had just begun batting. In the context of the T20 mode he got into, after the lunch break on day 3, the keeper batter explained what his captain had told him.
“So, when we went in for lunch, we were already talking about how long we should bat before declaring. Rohit bhai said, ‘1 ghanta aur khelne ko dekhenge, jisko jitna run banana hai bana lo (We will bat for 1 more hour, whoever wants to score, can do so)’. So, I came back scoring. Kya pata 150 bana lo (Who knows if I could score a 150?),” Pant stated.
The captain of the Indian cricket team, Rohit Sharma, has also complimented Pant for his excellent innings that assisted India to achieve a strong hold. In the post-match presentation, Rohit noted that the management fully supported Pant and that the reason for his long absence was to allow him to play and adjust after two years.
“He’s had his share of difficult times. To see how he carried himself in those difficult times was amazing. He returned in the IPL and then went on to have a fantastic World Cup, this is the format he enjoys the most,” Rohit said.
“‘In our case, we were never concerned about what is he going to do with the bat. He was always precise about what he had with the bat and with the gloves as well. It was only a matter of providing him with the game time. And credit to him, he actually played Duleep Trophy after, and prepared himself for this Test match, and made an impact in the game straight away,’ he went on.”
Put in other words, the captain of the Indian cricket team, Rohit Sharma, has also complimented Pant for his excellent innings that assisted India to achieve a strong hold.
Comments are closed.