'You won't believe' - R Sridhar recalls Rishabh Pant's reaction to India's 36 all-out in Adelaide

India’s Test win against Australia back in 2020-21 was one of the greatest achievements for the Men in Blue as they scripted history and R Sridhar, India's former fielding coach, finally revealed what his plans with Rishabh Pant were when the team's batting order collapsed in Adelaide during the first Test.

The team had suffered a humiliating loss in the first Test in Adelaide after being reduced to just 36 in the second innings and ultimately giving up an 8-wicket loss. Additionally, the team's problems were made worse when Virat Kohli, the team's captain at the time, left the side to travel back to India for the birth of his first child. But with Ajinkya Rahane leading the way, India rallied to win games in Sydney and Brisbane and take the series 2-1.

“In the 2021 series against Australia, it was a toss-up between a better WK and a better batsman, and the vote went to Wriddhiman Saha. At that time, he was the best wicketkeeper in the world. But then, the 36-all-out happened,” Sridhar recalled on cricket.com.

Sridhar also revealed he was outside the stadium, at the practice pitches, alongside Rishabh Pant as the two were working on Pant’s wicketkeeping. They had not watched India’s innings, but they rushed back to the stadium after hearing the Australian crown cheering load and lauding, and revealed that the two were shocked seeing India’s scoreboard.

“You won't believe, on the Day 3 morning when the wickets got tumbling, Pant and I were outside on the practice pitches, working on keeping. We kept hearing these loud 'oooohhhs' and thunderous applauses at Adelaide Oval. And we were both like, 'Oh I hope it's not a wicket'. And after about 20 minutes, we aborted our keeping session and came running into the stadium to see what the score was. It was 21/7. Me and Rishabh were like, 'What has just happened here?!' We didn't even see it live,” he added.

We realized that we don't have a left-hander in the top-6: Sridhar

Sridhar said that after India’s horrific 36-all-out, the team management realized the need for a left-hander in the batting lineup, and as a result gave a chance to Rishabh Pant for the next games to fill the gap. Pant earned laurels during India’s victories and became one of the reasons behind the historic series.

“And then, we realized that we don't have a left-hander in the top-6. We had all the right-handers. We wanted to bring a left-hander in the series and we got Rishabh Pant. He played from the 2nd Test and the rest, as they say, is history,” said Sridhar.