It was a show of pure grit and resilience from Indian cricket team wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant on Day 1 of the fifth Test match against Australia in Sydney on Friday. Pant remained strong in face of fiery pace bowling from Australia and although wickets continued to tumble on the other end, he scored a significant 40 off 98 deliveries. During his innings, he was left bruised on the arm by a stinging delivery from Mitchell Starc while a bouncer from the same bowler hit him on the helmet. He was forced to receive treatment from the physio on multiple occasions but it did not dampen his spirits.
Pant targeted the debutant Beau Webster and in the 46th over of the match, he stepped down to the medium-pacer and heaved him for a brilliant six over long-on. The connection was so good that the ball got stuck in the sight screen and had to be retrieved by the ground staff with the help of a ladder.
Pant said he batted with restraint on the opening day of the fifth Test against Australia because character of the SCG pitch did not allow him to be in his customary aggressive self.
Pant, who copped severe criticism from all corners for his callous approach to batting during the previous Test at Melbourne, made a 98-ball 40 in India’s 185 all out on Friday.
Rishabh Pant is a tough Guy.
– It’s time to make it big at SCG for India. pic.twitter.com/mcuRk3H8Xy
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) January 3, 2025
“In this innings, I wasn’t in frame of mind where I felt I could take charge of the game looking at nature of the wicket,” Pant said in the post-day press meet.
“Sometimes you have to play secure cricket as there were occasions where I could have taken 50-50 chances but didn’t,” he added.
Every time someone doubts on Rishabh Pant, he smacks them just like thatpic.twitter.com/awqvWck5Ii
— Sameer Allana (@HitmanCricket) January 3, 2025
The left-hander also said he is evolving as a batter, trying to find the right balance between defense and aggression.
“You want to bat the way that comes naturally to you but keep evolving and trying to keep a balance between attack and defense.”
Pant admitted that a batter tends to complicate things when he is not batting well.
“When you are not doing well you tend to overthink,” he said.
Debutant Aussie all-rounder Beau Webster concurred with Pant’s view on the pitch.
“They (India batters) decided to knuckle down and made us bowl lot of overs. I am not sure what a good score on this track but we would have batted first had we won the toss,” said Webster.
(With PTI inputs)
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