India vice-captain Rishabh Pant has issued a warning to England ahead of the third Test at Lord’s, saying that the visitors aren't concerned about the hosts changing their pitch plans after the outcome at Edgbaston.
India hammered England by 336 runs in the second Test in Birmingham to level the five-match series 1-1. The first two Tests were played on flat tracks at Headingley and Edgbaston, with the tourists scoring more than 1000 runs across both innings in the second game.
Indian bowlers also outclassed their English counterpart and claimed all 20 wickets in the match to secure a historic win.
The early images of the Lord's surface showed that there was a bit of grass, meaning that there would be seam and movement on offer for the fast bowlers.
Addressing the media, Pant said that India's plan is to play according to the conditions given to them and not think about England's plans.
"See, as a team, generally, what we plan is to play according to the conditions given to us. We don’t want to think about what the opposition is thinking—whether they are changing their plans or not. Whatever they’re doing, we’ll do our best and do better from there. Simple," Pant told reporters.
The wicketkeeper-batter further stated that the mantra of the team will be to focus on getting 20 wickets in the end.
Pant also said this is a chance for everyone to step up and the batters are showing promise in the absence of retired Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
"The discussion was that England will give us better wickets because the kind of cricket that they play. So for us, the mantra was to get 20 wickets on these batting-friendly wickets. That was already planned. Eventually, our batters have to step up because we don't have two of our senior players too. Like I said, it's an opportunity to step up and people are slowly doing that. Eventually, we might do even better as a team," said Pant.
Ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah missed the second Test at Edgbaston last week as part of his workload management but he is set to comeback at Lord’s. His participation in the third Test was confirmed by India’s Test captain, Shubman Gill, during the post-match presentation ceremony at Edgbaston.
When asked what makes Bumrah so special, Pant replied: "I think everything. I think how accurate he is, the way his mind works—I think he's just amazing, man. I think it's more difficult for the wicketkeeper behind the wicket than for the batsman, especially in England.”
