Pant opens up on braving blows on ‘tough’ Sydney wicket
The Indian keeper-batter put together a gritty 40 off 98 deliveries and was the leading run-getter for India in the first innings.
Rishabh Pant, the India wicketkeeper-batter, admitted it was the first time he had taken as many blows to the body after a "tough" first day's play against Australia in Sydney on Friday, 3 January.
After being asked to bowl first, Australia's pace attack quickly got rid of the Indian top-order and early into the second session, Pant and Ravindra Jadeja were up for damage control.
The duo would manage to take the visiting team into the second break without the loss of another wicket. Pant, who lasted 98 deliveries, scored 40 and was the leading run-getter for India.
A particular feature of the explosive southpaw’s innings was his resilience after coping multiple blows during his stay including a nasty blow to bruise his bicep off a 140KPH ripper from Mitchell Starc.
Speaking to the reporters afterwards, the wicketkeeper-batter conceded that never before had he sustained as many blows during a single innings.
“I think this is the first time I’ve gotten hit this much. But you know in cricket, you can’t plan anything,” Pant said.
“Everything happens for the first time at some point of time in your career. That was me today. Not thinking about that too much.
“Definitely, it’s painful. But sometimes you have to do the hard work for the team and that’s okay. Not thinking about where I got hit. Just playing the ball to the best of my ability, that’s the only thing I can do.”
Pant’s eventual dismissal off Scott Boland’s back-of-a-length delivery triggered a flurry of wickets for Australia in the final session, as India were bundled out for 185.
Assessing the playing conditions on offer, Pant termed Sydney’s pitch as ‘tough’ for the batters, and added that while India’s total isn’t par, it still posed a challenge for Australia’s batters.
“I think it should remain the same, hopefully for us. But I feel it was a tough pitch," he said.
“The ball was doing off the wicket quite a bit. Especially the end of second session. But as a cricketer, you have to adjust to whatever kind of conditions you get and get the most out of it.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a par score, anything over 220-250 would be a par score. But (it’s) still a very competitive score, the way the ball is moving now, I think there’s a lot of help for the bowlers. Hopefully we can capitalise on it.”
Pant also sang praises of Boland, who finished as the pick of the bowlers for Australia, nabbing a four-wicket haul. The 35-year-old now holds 15 wickets to his name in three Tests from the ongoing series.
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“He’s been an amazing bowler," Pant said. "The way he bowls line and length, especially Test cricket, it’s quite difficult. He’s so used to playing in these conditions. You don’t feel like he’s playing his first initial matches.
“It feels like he’s been there for a long period of time and that’s the kind of experience he has playing in Australia.
“As an international cricketer, I feel, you should be able to find ways each and every day, even if the bowler is good on a given day, but you have got to keep finding ways. All the respect for him, amazing bowler. But at the same time, we have got to find ways to tackle him.”