Rishabh Pant was criticized for the risks he took during this Border-Gavaskar Trophy, risks which earned him scores of 37, 1, 21, 28, 9, 28, 30. Perception of both outside the Indian team and inside is that he does not control his natural game when he needs to.
Pant showed he could bat differently in Sydney where Australia’s discipline on a pitch with seam movement and bounce led him to take body blow after body blow in an innings where he faced 98 balls and only hit four at the boundary. He came in to bat just as India were losing a bit of their advantage, losing a wicket on the last ball before lunch, to become 57 for 2 after 25 overs.
Pant took them to tea for the loss of an extra wicket, batting in a way he doesn’t normally do. India were 107 for 4 after 50 overs.
“I think in that innings I wasn’t in a state of mind where I wanted to take charge of the game because the wicket was doing too much,” he said. “And the kind of situation we were in and playing inside I felt like I could play a bit of defensive cricket yes there is a time to attack but when you have to feel that way ‘interior. I can’t premeditate that I’m going to play this way, whatever the game asks me to do that day, that’s what I’m trying to do and that was the mindset.
After the defeat in Melbourne, Gautam Gambhir, the India coach, stressed the need for a team-first approach where all players must decide whether their natural game would help their cause or hinder it. Four days ago, Rohit Sharma had given Pant the responsibility of determining what was best for him and the team.
“I think it’s not very difficult,” Pant said of prioritizing survival over strokeplay. “Yes, the first part would be very difficult because when you see a ball you can hit it, but sometimes you have to play more sensible cricket I would say. Like there was maybe a 50-50 chance I could have taken at the start of that innings, but sometimes you have to play safer cricket, especially the way [SCG] The wicket was behaving, we knew if we got one more wicket here we might lose two or three in quick succession so that was the idea behind the way I was playing and the last match it didn’t There wasn’t much to do with the kind of objective we had. I think I had to play this [defensively] in that way, so I think the way I play suits me pretty well.
Pant is in no mood to sacrifice his gifts entirely. “I think a lot of the time you want to come back to whatever way you played the game, but ultimately you have to continue to evolve. There is, I think, no one way to play cricket, but whatever comes most naturally is always better, but you have to find that balance between playing aggressive cricket and having that balance when you play all those shots and that’s what I’m trying to do.
“I just try to get the most out of the way I play and keep things simple, not overthink, because you know when you don’t have the best of tours you might overthink, but I ‘just try to keep it simple and give 200% on the field and that’s the idea of playing cricket for me.
Rohit decision was a management decision – Pant
India went into the Sydney Test with captain Rohit out after a prolonged period of poor form, alongside poor results. “I think it was definitely an emotional decision,” Pant said. “Because he has been captain for a long time, we see him as a leader of the team, but I think there are certain decisions that you are not involved in and that is a very important management issue. call, so I was not part of that conversation, so I can’t explain anything other than that.
Bumrah, who took over from Rohit, had a simple message for India. “I think the main message is to be positive all the time, not to think about what has already happened, just do your best on the field,” Pant said. “And that’s what you expect from your captain, like being in a positive frame of mind. and keep pushing the game forward every day.
India felt they had found themselves on the wrong end of a DRS appeal, when a no-out decision on the field was overturned in the final session and Washington Sundar was ultimately deemed caught behind. There was a whisper over Snicko as the ball flew past the glove. Referee Joel Wilson took this as confirmation of contact. In the previous Test, Yashasvi Jaiswal was caught and there he definitely hit the ball but Snicko did not corroborate this evidence. Pant believed that technology needed to improve.
“I think there is not much to say because technology is something you cannot control as a cricketer,” Pant said. “But I think whatever decision we make on the field, it has to stay with the referee on the field who is The only thing until it is so conclusive to change the decision, I think we should stay with the referee’s rest on the field, it’s the referee’s decision at the end of the day. I can’t argue with that every day, but technology can be a little better, I suppose.
