Rishabh Pant admits India fell short of par score: ‘It was a tough pitch, but….’

In a game where winning the toss was expected to be decisive, India’s Jasprit Bumrah called it right and opted to bat first at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). But the tourists were not able to make the most out of the toss as on a green SCG surface under cloudy skies, India got bowled out for 185, getting rolled over under 200 for the fourth time in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.

Sydney has historically been a ‘batter friendly’ surface, but, on the day, the Indian batters succumbed to the relentless Australian speedsters on a track that had plenty on offer for the quicks.  

Batting was certainly far from easy, but Rishabh Pant, who top scored for India with 40, admitted that the visitors fell short of a par score.

“It was a little bit tough pitch. The ball was doing off the wicket quite a bit. I wouldn’t say 185 is a par-score. But I think anything over 220-250 would be a par-score,” Pant said after the day’s play.

But the wicketkeeper batter asserted that India are very much in the game despite the relatively low score, due to just how much the surface is offering. It is worth noting that in Perth, India won the contest by 295 runs despite getting bowled out for 150 after winning the toss and batting.

“Still a very competitive score because the way the ball is moving, there is a lot of help for the bowlers,” Pant added.

On the day, Pant fought hard big time. He lasted 98 balls and took many body blows in the process, not too dissimilar to what Cheteshwar Pujara did in the previous tour. The left-hander even got hit bang on the helmet by a vicious bouncer from Mitchell Starc.

Speaking of the rather painful outing in the middle, Pant said, “Definitely, it’s painful, but sometimes you have to do the hard work for the team, and that’s okay. I was not thinking about where I got hit but just played the ball to the best of my abilities. I think this is the first time I have been hit so much.”

After India were bowled out for 185, Australia batted three overs. But 20 minutes were enough for Bumrah to send Usman Khawaja back to the pavilion.