Team India head coach Ravi Shastri lauded Rishabh Pant as the youngster continues to improve with both, bat and gloves. His comments came after Pant’s 1118-ball 101 helped India dominated England by an innings and 25 runs in the fourth and final Test and seal the series 3-1.
As Pant eased India’s path in the final of the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC), Ravi Shastri described the 23-year-old’s innings as the best counter-attacking innings he has ever seen in India. He also spoke about the partnerships Pant had with Rohit Sharma and Washington Sundar.
“Pant has been simply magnificent. We were hard on him. Nothing comes easy. He was told in no uncertain terms that he has got to respect the game a little more. He’s got to lose a bit of weight and work hard on his keeping.
“We know the talent he has and he has responded. He has worked like hell for the last few months and the results are here to see. Yesterday’s innings was the best counter-attacking innings I have seen in India,” Shastri said after the match.
“It was a two-phase innings. He built a partnership with Rohit playing against his nature — to do that is not easy — and to turn it on after 50. Keeping has been magnificent and Washi was outstanding too,” he added.
The England batsmen, on the other hand, had no answers to the challenged possessed by the India spinners, R Ashwin and Axar Patel. Although Dan Lawrence did showcase some resistance with a battling 50. With this win, India also overtook New Zealand as the top-ranked team in the ICC Test rankings.
Both teams, India and England, will now lock horns in a five-match T20I series, starting from December 12. The T20I series will be followed by a three-game ODI series.