Ajinkya Rahane showers praise on highly confident Rishabh Pant

Team India was put in to bat first on an overcast morning at Trent Bridge and everyone feared that the Lord’s debacle would repeat. But the openers Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul applied themselves beautifully and for the first time in the series, the first wicket stand reached 60. Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane carried on from there as Rishabh Pant handled pressure extremely well in the last few overs of the day as the visitors ended the day with a slight advantage on a slow wicket.

Rahane and Kohli smashed half-centuries but were unfortunate to miss their respective tons after looking so good in the middle for 81 and 97 respectively. Though it was Pant who hogged all the limelight late in the day as he got off the mark in Test cricket with a superb six off Adil Rashid. After picking Kohli’s wicket, England would’ve hoped to put pressure on the debutant but he didn’t make any fuss about the occasion and was not perturbed.

The vice-captain was happy with the way Pant batted with maturity and didn’t let the advantage slip though Hardik Pandya was dismissed off the last ball of the day. He remained unbeaten on 22 off 32 balls and would be looking to make a big score for his team on the second day. “He’s been doing well for India A and scoring runs. He’s high on confidence and that’s what matters in international cricket,” Rahane said of the 20-year-old in the press conference.

It’s a good score

Ajinkya Rahane assessed the situation and felt that India have put a good score at the end of day 1. They were 307/6 at stumps thanks to him and skipper Kohli who forged a partnership of 159 runs and made sure that the hard work from the openers didn’t go in vain.

“I think it’s a good score on this wicket. Me and Virat, we were planning to put pressure on the bowlers. In the end, it was a good score I think. We were thinking that if we get a good start and if the top order does well, the middle order can capitalize. That’s what we were doing. Me and Virat were focusing on rotating the strike and put the bad balls to the boundary,” he added.

The visitors will be keen to score at least 100 more runs to put pressure on the hosts and Pant will play a key role along with Ravi Ashwin who is also no mug with the bat.

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