India vs England 2021: “You both are valuable assets” – Rohit Sharma tells Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar


India vs England 2021: “You both are valuable assets” – Rohit Sharma tells Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar

Washington Sundar and Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant

The heroes for India on day 2 of the fourth and final test against England were Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar. Even as the rest of the host’s famed batting line including the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane failed to deliver and put India in a spot of bother, elegant knocks from the aforementioned trio ensured that India ended the day on top.

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Rohit Sharma weathered the initial storm and stroked his way into the 40s. He was unlucky to have a close LBW call go against him as he fell short of a half-century by 1 run. It was then the Pant-Sundar partnership that rescued India from 146/6 to take them to 294/7 at stumps. Pant was in his element as he came up with a trademark swashbuckling century. Washington Sundar gave him excellent support and ended unbeaten on a half-century.

Rohit Sharma speaks to Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar

Rohit Sharma

In a video posted by the BCCI, Rohit Sharma interviewed Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar after the second day’s play and praised them saying, “You both are very important assets for the team because you guys do more than one skill. Your (Sundar) bowling is very important for the team… Rishabh, your keeping was so encouraging to watch. You seem to be working every day on your keeping which is why we see the results as well on the field. I understand it is not easy keeping on pitches like that.”

Speaking about Pant’s innings, Rohit said, “We saw two Rishabh Pant today, the first half of Rishabh Pant was nice, compact and you were respecting the good balls and but at the same time, you were trying to press on the bad balls as well. That was good to see. But the second half was completely different. It was important to play those shots on a pitch like that because we know that the pitch is not easy to keep batting like that.” Pant replied to the same saying, “The only game plan I had was to just see the ball and hit my shot after we got the lead.”

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Rohit then quizzed Sundar on how he felt after his knock and the all-rounder replied saying, “Amazing (feeling) honestly. I should thank the management and senior players for keeping faith in me. I just wanted to play my natural game. After about 15-20 balls, I thought if I could just defend and spend a lot of time in the middle, I would be able to get runs and also put the team in a better position. Very glad that it happened today.”

India will begin tomorrow with a lead of 89 with Axar Patel and Sundar at the crease.

Also Read: India vs England 2021: “How good is he?” – Sourav Ganguly says Rishabh Pant will be an ‘all time great’