Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant said he curbed his natural style of play on Day 1 of fifth Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test against Australia because of the nature of the Sydney wicket.

Pant, who faced severe backlash for his reckless batting approach during the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, emerged as the top scorer for India at SCG. The southpaw made 40 off 98 balls as India’s first innings folded for 185 in 72.2 overs.

“I think in this innings, I was not in a frame of mind where I wanted to take charge of the game because the wicket was doing too much and the kind of situation we were in,” Pant said in the post-day press conference.

“I would say there might be a 50-50 chance which I could have taken early on in this innings but sometimes you have to play more secure cricket especially the way, wicket was behaving.

“We knew that if we lost one more wicket here, we might lose 2-3 in quick succession. So that was the idea behind the way I was playing,” he added.

Pant’s falling pull in the first innings of Melbourne Test had prompted legendary Sunil Gavaskar to call the shot “stupid” and in the second innings, he slogged a half-tracker from Travis Head to find the only fielder in the deep when the Test match was on the line.

“Yes, there is a time to attack, but when you have to feel that from inside. I can't just premeditate that I'm going to play this way. Whatever the game asked me to do on a given day, that's what I tried to do and that is the mindset,” the left-hander said.

“It is a natural habit to back whatever the way you have played the game. But eventually you got to keep on evolving and, that is, I feel there is not one way to play cricket.

“But whatever comes more naturally is always better but you got to find that balance between playing aggressive cricket and having that balance when you play all those shots. That's what I'm trying to do,” he explained his rationale.

“Just trying to make the most out of whatever the way I'm playing and just keep it simple, and not to overthink because you know when you're not having the best of the tours you might overthink,” he further remarked.

Rishabh Pant admitted that blows he copped, one on the left bicep and few in the abdominal area, were painful but that was the need of the hour.

“I mean definitely it's painful but you know sometimes you have to do the hard work for the team and that's okay. Not thinking about where I got hit but just playing the ball to the best of my abilities.”

“I think this is the first time I've gotten hit so much but you know in cricket you can't plan anything. So everything happens for the first time at some point of time in your career. But that was me today, so, not thinking about that too much,” he stated.

While Pant acknowledged that 185 won’t be a par-score, he remained hopeful of India’s fightback because of the assistance for fast bowlers on the Sydney pitch.

“I think I wouldn't say it's a par score, but I think anything over 220-250 would be a par score, but still a very competitive score because of the way the ball is moving now.

“I think there's a lot of help for the bowler. It should remain the same, hopefully for us. But I feel it was a little tough. The ball was doing off the wicket quite a bit,” he noted.

This SCG surface has a different degree of difficulty compared to Perth, Adelaide or Brisbane and for Pant, it is about finding ways to tackle the challenge.

“Mostly you are going to be looking for a loose ball which you rarely get in a Test match, especially the kind of bowling attack they have, the kind of experience they possess. They are pretty accurate with their line and lengths, but that's the challenge of Test cricket.

“I would say you got to find ways. Like I said before, keep finding ways each and every day to make it happen for yourself and your team. And that's where Test cricket keeps on going,” he said.

While Pant refused to go into the technical aspects related to Washington Sundar’s dismissal despite replays not showing any deflection off the glove, he opined that such decisions should be left with on-field umpires.

“I think there is not much to say because the technology is one part which, as a cricketer, you can't control. But I feel whatever decision we make on the field, it has to stay with the on-field umpire.

“That's the only thing. Until and unless it's so conclusive to change the decision, I think we should stay with the on-field umpire,” he added.

(With PTI Inputs)