It was good fun batting with Rishabh Pant, says Ajinkya Rahane

Having lost three wickets for 102 runs in the first innings, Team India seemed to be in trouble in the second Test against Windies. Out there in the middle were out-of-form Ajinkya Rahane and inexperienced Rishabh Pant. At this stage of the game, for the first time in the series, it seemed as if the Windies had the upper hand.

But then, Rahane built a wonderful partnership along with the keeper-batsman. These two added 152 runs for the fifth wicket and were assisted by a few dropped catches. The side went from 102/3 to 314/5 before Jason Holder dismissed the Indian vice-captain. Rahane shared his experiences about batting with the aggressive Pant, he mentioned that it was tough to try and control his natural instincts but in the end was happy with what they managed.

Rahane found it hard to control Pant

“It was good fun. Yesterday (Day 2), I was trying to control him. We needed one partnership to put West Indies down. It was hard to control him, but he controlled his aggression and batted well,” Rahane said after India sealed the series on Sunday.

He was happy to spend time in the middle. He said that this inning has really helped him. Furthermore, he heaped praises on Umesh Yadav who was terrific even though India was a bowler short. The Mumbai batsman will have an important role to fulfil during the tour to Australia and this innings should give him a lot of confidence.

“I wanted to bat long and this innings really helped me. This series I wanted to spend time and create some good batting habits. Throughout the series, we’ve played really well, especially our batsmen. But credit to Umesh Yadav. We were a bowler short and he bowled magnificently,” he said.

Rahane got out after scoring 80 runs. The extra bounce that Holder extracted off the pitch got the better of him. Soon, Pant was also dismissed on 92 and followed him back to the pavilion. India put up 367 runs in that innings thereby gaining a sizeable lead.

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