Follow UsRishabh Pant rose to the occasion once again with a blazing 111-ball 146 to put India in command on Day One of the fifth Test against England at Edgbaston. He came in to bat with India at 64 for 3 and soon found themselves at 98 for 5 with Virat Kohli (11) and Shreyas Iyer (15) too back in the hut.
Pant found an able ally in Ravindra Jadeja (83*) with whom he put on 222 for the sixth wicket as India ended the day on 338 for 7. The wicketkeeper stressed on the fact that it was important to disturb the bowler mentally and things will happen.
"In English conditions, if a bowler pitches it up, it's important to disturb his rhythm, that's what I feel," the 24-year-old Pant said during the media interaction after the end of day one's play.
Be it England pace spearhead James Anderson, who rocked India early on with his 3 for 52, or skipper Ben Stokes who offered a barrage of short-pitched stuff, Pant looked ridiculously at ease during his blitzkrieg.
"I don't try to play unidimensional, rather I try out various shots -- sometimes I step out, or play on the backfoot. I keep on using the crease well. It's about disturbing the bowler mentally and things happen. It's not pre-planned. I just focus on what the bowler is trying to do."
Pant also stressed on the fact that it was important to respect the good deliveries adding that he has also worked a lot on his defence.
"Yes, I've worked a lot on my defence. My coach, Tarak Sinha Sir had told me long back that you can attack any bowler but at the same time he has always stressed to focus on playing defensively," Pant said.
"You can't be defensive or attacking with each ball. I try to focus on each ball and play according to its merit. It's a good sign to show respect to a good ball. I'm not focusing much on the defence rather I'm focused on my game.
"I might play some different shots sometimes but it's about giving your 100 percent. If a ball is there to be hit, I go for it. I just try to back it over a period of time and that's actually helping me."
Speaking of his partnership with Jadeja, Pant said it is key to give yourself some time early on considering India were losing wickets in a hurry. "When you lose too many wickets early on, you have to give yourself more time. I just tried to stage partnership with Jaddu Bhai and not lose a wicket before tea and it worked for us," the wicketkeeper-batter said.
"(Coach) Rahul (Dravid) Bhai told me that I should play one ball at a time and not focus too much on other things.
"The discussion was about creating small, small partnerships, maybe in 25-30s, that's how you convert it into a big one. Yes, there was pressure early on, but I just focused in the process. It's about what I want to do as a player and not what the opposition is thinking."
Up 2-1 in the series, India had a troubled build-up as their skipper Rohit Sharma had to pull out after being tested for COVID-19. England, on the other hand, were coming on the back of a 3-0 whitewash on reigning world Test champions New Zealand.
But Pant said his side had enough time to prepare for the rescheduled match. "We practiced well as a team, we also had a practice match. We had enough time to get into the mindset of playing the Test," he concluded.
(With inputs from PTI)