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India's main wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has won the hearts of cricket fans in India after his spectacular batting on Day 1 of the 5th Test at the Edgbaston Stadium in Birmingham on Friday, July 1.
Demonstrating utter calm and finesse, Pant steadied the ship after India lost five wickets for just 98 runs. He played some amazing shots off James Anderson's bowling, before eventually being caught by Zak Crawley off Joe Root's bowling. Pant finished his innings with 146 runs to his name off 111 balls.
After the match, Pant caught up with the media to discuss his innings. He said, “In Test cricket, it is important to focus on defence. It is important to respect the good ball and hit the bad ball. In England (English conditions). It is important to distort the length of a bowler. That is why I was playing such shots from time to time."
The pinch-hitting batter also shared some advice that he got from head coach Rahul Dravid, who told him to play his according to the ball, "I work a lot on my defence. You can't play shots on plain balls so it's important to play on the throw. The only thing we discussed with Rahul Dravid bhai was that I should play one ball at a time and not focus too much on other things."
"My coach Tarak Sinha sir had told me long back that you can attack but you need to defend as well and respect the bowler when he bowls well and that is what I do. I have been focusing on playing a good shot and giving my hundred per cent. and that's actually helping me improve," he added.
Pant had a brilliant partnership alongside Ravindra Jadeja, racking a mammoth 222-runs for the sixth wicket. The record partnership of 222 runs in 239 balls between the two for the sixth wicket was the highest by an Indian team in England. It was also India's joint fourth-highest partnership in Test cricket.
Sharing his thoughts on the record-breaking partnership stand, Pant said, "The discussion between Jadeja and me was that we seek partnership. I was just talking about building a partnership with Jadeja and we were like let's try for a partnership. "I never take it as a favourite opposition. I do not think much about the opposition. I focus mostly on playing my game. When a bowler pitches the ball consistently in one spot I try to step out. play unconventional shots to unsettle the bowlers," he said.
