England’s spin bowling coach Jeetan Patel has asserted that Rishabh Pant’s batting is pretty daunting after the Indian gloveman made a century on day two of the final Test. He also added that England players are a bit tired after giving their best and still feels the game is in the balance.
Rishabh Pant has been in a terrific run of form this year. After getting out in the 90s twice, he finally made a Test century on day two of the Test series finale between India and England. The southpaw batted patiently for his first fifty but after that, it was a pure carnage as he played some audacious shots including a reverse-hit off James Anderson when he was bowling with the second new ball.
The way Pant got into a hitting spree, the English bowlers seemed completely clueless after having two great sessions. They were quite flat in the final session and as a result, India ended the day with a lead of 89 runs and with three wickets in hand after England made 205 in their first innings. Washington Sundar (60) and Axar Patel (11) remained unbeaten at the end of the day’s play.
England’s spin bowling coach, Jeetan Patel, speaking in the press conference, stated that it’s daunting to see Pant bat the way he does but maintained that the game is still in the balance.
“The game is still quite in the balance, I believe. But I think Rishabh Pant and Washinton Sundar’s partnership is huge… He certainly came out and looked to play shots bit more aggressively and it came off from him. When a guy strikes as well as he has been in this series, it is pretty daunting to have him come at 7 (6) and score the way he does,” Patel told reporters after the end of day two in a virtual press conference.
He also stated that the pitch got flattened in the middle session but lauded the efforts of the English side, who he reckoned gave their best in the field today.
“I think the players are very tired. The wicket started off really well and I think it started to flatten out in the middle session and by the end of the day, it started to go the other way. I think the guys put up a lot of efforts, probably 100 per cent of what they got. So, they are a bit tired and maybe a bit annoyed about how the afternoon went because we were in a good position.”
India already have a lead of 2-1 in the ongoing series and are just a win or draw away from sealing their place in the World Test Championship final and winning the series.
