Rishabh Pant hit 15 boundaries and one six in his 159 not out off 189 balls
Rishabh Pant slammed an unbeaten 159 off 189 balls as India posted a mammoth 622/7 before declaring on day two of the fourth and final Test match at Sydney on Friday.
Pant was at his strokeful best and clobbered 15 fours and a six as India dominated proceedings for the second day in a row at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
The wicketkeeper batsman looked unfazed and stitched a 89-run stand with Cheteshwar Pujara for the sixth wicket first and then went on to add another 204 runs for the seventh wicket along with Ravindra Jadeja (81) before India decided to declare on 622.
However, Pant revealed that felt the "nervous 90's syndrome" on Friday but said that Jadeja's presence at the other end helped him play with freedom unlike previous Test matches, when the young keeper had to bat with the tail.
"To be honest, I was a little nervous, because in India when we were playing West Indies, in the last two innings, I got out on 92 and 92. So I was scared slightly but I got through that phase quickly," Pant said.
When asked if anything changed as he was getting out in 20's and 30's, Pant replied: "I don't think anything changed from my side. The main thing was that I was playing with a batsman (Jadeja) this time. Most of the time, when I got a start, I was playing with the tail.
"If I am batting with the tail, I have to think differently because most of the time, I have to score the runs. But when you are batting with a batsman, that's a different thing. You have seen it today," Pant said on his superb 159 off 189 balls.
He has been given complete "freedom to express himself" by the team management and that has helped his batting.
"The best part of my batting is that everyone in the team has given me freedom to express myself. Every time when I go to bat, I just enjoy myself, that's the only thing I love to do," said Pant.
The obvious question about comparison between his hundred against England at the Oval and the one at the SCG was asked, to which he said: "Every hundred I score in international cricket is special for me because I have just started my career. But the main thing is that I don't think about hundreds. I just always think about only one thing - what the team needs from me. That's the only goal I have."
The youngster said that he is learning new things about his game everyday and the process of improvement will continue till he is playing the sport.
"Obviously, you can learn from anyone when you are going through a bad phase. It's a learning process when you are playing cricket. Till such time that you are playing cricket, the learning process continues. If you use that experience and implement in the match, then the performances flow and you get out of the hard phase," he said
Pant dropped a sitter given by Usman Khwaja off Mohammed Shami's bowling but he wants to remain positive rather being disappointed.
"As a wicketkeeper, we look forward to only one thing - to be positive because this is not a one-ball game. You have to be on the field till you get the opposition out. So you have to be positive because if the next chance comes and you don't grab that, your morale will go down even more I guess. So you have to positive all the time," he stated.
(With inputs from PTI)
