File photo of Rishabh Pant.
A lot has changed for Rishabh Pant since his Brisbane Test heroics which saw the Indians tame Aussies at their bastion GABBA in 32 years.
Pant played a flawless 89-run innings to take India home while chasing a challenging total of 326 on the final day of the series. However, enjoying a rich form, it wasn't his only strong show of the season as the southpaw scored a 97 in Sydney Test as well and his whilrwind of an innings gave India a sniff of win before it eventually ended in a hard-fought draw with R Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari coming to the rescue.
Speaking of his Sydney innings, Pant said he himself was aiming for a win and hence the aggressive approach and it was his failure at SCG which propelled him to correct his mistake in Brisbane. The wicket-keeper batsman also revealed that he took the field on the day after taking two injections and sedatives due to tremendous pain.
"Even when I got out for 97 on the last day in Sydney, I thought I could have won the match had I batted longer. It didn’t matter that I had to take two injections and sedatives before batting," Pant told TOI. "I was in a zone and didn’t want to throw away opportunities. So I ensured I was there at the end in Brisbane."
Often blamed of poor shot selection, Pant was finding it difficult to keep his spot in the team. After realising his mistake, the Delhi batsman decided to be more cautious with his batting in Australia while focussing on lose deliveries to get the maximum result.
"Yes, I have worked hard on my shot selection. Even in Brisbane, I stopped myself from being tempted to play the big hits even as I was chasing the target. I kept telling myself to wait for the right ball to hit big," he said.
