Pant slammed 97 runs with 12 fours and 3 sixes, with a bruised left forearm.
Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir praised Rishabh Pant for his blistering knock of 97 against Australia on the final day of the Sydney Test that reignited India’s hope of chasing down the 407-run target and kept the contest alive.
Promoted up the order after the dismissal of the skipper Ajinkya Rahane, in the second over of the day Rishabh Pant took charge against the lethal Australian attack and smashed 97 off 118 balls giving India unlikely hope of winning.
Pant’s innings of 97 runs had 12 fours and 3 sixes in it and shifted the momentum towards India, keeping Australian bowlers at bay with visitors losing just three wickets during the entire day and ended the match in a draw.
Gautam Gambhir praised Rishabh Pant for his fearless batting and said that had he batted a little longer, India could’ve won the Test as well.
“Unbelievable! That just shows the character of the team as well. Rishabh Pant batted really well. Obviously, he batted the way he should’ve batted and he backed his strengths and he lived by the sword and you die by it.
Yes, people might just say that there was no need to play that shot, but he kept playing and kept India in the game. Had he batted a bit more longer India could have actually gone on to win the Test match, which probably would have been the most historic win ever,” said Gautam Gambhir on Star Sports Cricket Connected.
Gautam Gambhir also hailed Cheteshwar Pujara as one of the few batsmen in modern-day cricket who are capable of wearing down the opponents.
“On the other side, when we talk about Cheteshwar Pujara, you can talk as much as you can and as much as you want about his strike-rate, but there are very few batters going around in world cricket who can actually play time and session and he’s one of them,” he said.
Gautam Gambhir backs India to win the final Test match at Brisbane and said that the SCG draw could actually spur visitors to put a better show at the Gabba and create history.
“One might just think that you are only been able to draw the Test match, but these kinds of draws, are probably as big as winning in Australia. You can actually go on to win the series as well if you play good cricket, probably in the fourth Test match and you can come back winning the series which is again, going to be historic,” he said.