I was playing my normal game," Rishabh Pant on hitting a six off the second ball

Audacity is one of those terms which is loosely used in the cricketing world, but Rishabh Pant going down the track and smacking a six on the second ball of his International career is the quintessence of audacity. A lot of people are already comparing him to the likes of Virender Sehwag and Adam Gilchrist, but Pant reckons it’s his natural game.

Talking to reporters in the break before the fourth Test in England, the young Delhi batsman said that he was pretty nervous whilst walking on to the field, but he somehow managed to get back to his normal state. He said that the six was just a reaction when he saw the ball in his arc and that strike from him saw a lot of jaws drop.

“I was nervous. Everyone is nervous when they play their first match. I saw the ball and reacted to it. I was not thinking of hitting it for a six. I was just playing my normal cricket,” Pant told reporters.

Keeping in England is difficult

Seam bowlers love bowling in England because of the lateral movement that they get in the air. That extra swing doesn’t just cause problems to the batsmen, but also adds burden on the keepers to be extra agile. The ball tends to wobble a lot behind the wicket as well and that doesn’t make things any easy.

“Wicketkeeping in England is always difficult because the ball wobbles a lot behind the wicket. I have been playing for India A since the last two and a half months in England, so it has been helpful for me in my preparation,” he said.

Talking about his performance behind the sticks, the 20-year-old reckons he still has a lot to learn and with bowlers like Bumrah and Ishant in the side, his job will only get more challenging. He also spoke about the drop catch off Bumrah’s bowling and what he learned from it.

“As a ‘keeper, you have to wait for the outside edge. That is the only thing I can do and that is what I have learned from it [dropped catch]. It is a big challenge, but the thing is that when Bumrah bowls, he bowls with a different angle,” Pant pointed out.

“So, sometimes we react to it. That day I reacted too much on that ball and the edge came off. I’m not saying that it was not too difficult a catch; I could have pulled it off, but it is part of the game,” he said.

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