England vs India: Rishabh Pant gives a one-word reply about his batting position in the fifth Test

After the completion of the first day of the fifth Test between England, India's Rishabh Pant came to the press conference to address the questions of the media. The keeper-batter was asked by an English Journalist whether he swapped his batting positions with Shreyas Iyer and came in to bat at number 5. Pant gave a direct one-word reply to the reporter.

The reporter asked Pant, “Were you originally coming in at six and did you swap positions with Shreyas Iyer?”. Reacting to this question, Pant had a simple one-word reply and said, “No”. The journalist then asked the wicketkeeper, “You were always coming at five?” and then Pant replied, “Yeah, I was always coming at five.”

Pant scored a magnificent 146 off just 111 balls smashing 20 fours and 4 sixes. The wicketkeeper batter along with Jadeja scored 222 runs together for the sixth wicket and took India out of trouble. It is to be noted that the visitors were once reeling at 98/5. Pant left the audience awestruck with his stupendous stroke play and brought up the fifth hundred of his career.

Reacting to his performance, Pant said, “I don’t focus on the bowler; I focus on what he is bowling. It is not pre-planned that I have to after this bowler, If I feel I can hit the ball, I do that. I like the opposition (England) but I do not think about it much. I just look to give my 100 per cent in every match. My focus is on the cricket I play,” said Pant.

He also talked about his defence which has helped him score a lot of runs. “From childhood, my coach Tarak sir told me that you can hit the ball, but work on your defence as well. I keep working on my defence, in Test cricket, defence is important.

India were 338/7 at stumps on Day 1 with Ravindra Jadeja unbeaten on 83. India will be looking to add more runs to their overnight score and post a good first innings total on the board.