‘It made me angry’: Rishabh Pant reveals what spurred him to complete his century in the final over against Australia A

India vs Australia: Something happened in the final over of Day 2 which changed Rishabh Pant’s mind and he hammered 22 runs – four fours and one six – to complete his century off the final ball before stumps.

Rishabh Pant roared back to some form with a 73-ball century in the pink-ball practice match against Australia A at Sydney. Pant pummelled the Australia A bowlers, smacking nine fours and six sixes to complete his century off the final over of Day 2. Before the final over of the day, Pant was batting on 81, and admitted that he felt he wouldn’t be able to get to the three-figure mark by stumps.

Rishabh Pant slog sweeps the ball. (Getty Images)

However, something happened in that over which changed the young wicketkeeper’s batsman’s mind and he hammered 22 runs in the over – four fours and one six – to complete his century off the final ball before stumps.

“When I went out to bat a lot of overs were left, so (Hanuma) Vihari and I wanted to build a good partnership. We wanted to bat as much as possible. I was just trying to give myself as much time as possible and slowly I started to develop confidence,” Pant told the BCCI’s official website.

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“As I approached my century, I realised I needed some 20-odd runs [I think] to get it. My first reaction was that I won’t be able to get it tonight. When the first ball hit me on my stomach, it made me angry. That’s when I said to myself ‘Now, I have to try going for a couple of shots’. Vihari came and told me ‘the century can be completed; you should try to go for it. Else, bat tomorrow and get there without any rush. I said ‘I’ll try. If I can get it, well and good. In the flow, the bowler kept bowling and I kept hitting.”

Pant, who has been struggling to cement his place in India’s limited-overs and Test squads due to a string of low scores, admitted that the innings comes at the right time and it was just the tonic he needed heading into the Test series. He and Wriddhiman Saha are the two options India have and with Pant striking a century, the odds have tilted in his favour, at least for the opening Test – a Day/Night affair – in Adelaide starting Thursday.

“This hundred has been a big confidence-booster for me. It’s been a month, I am in Australia but I didn’t get the chance to play in the first practice match because of a stiff neck,” Pant said. “In the first innings here, I was unlucky as I felt the LBW decision was wrong from the umpire. In the second innings, my focus was to spend as much time as possible and the result is I got a good innings under my belt.”

Pant explained how it was important for the team to have a good outing with the pink ball ahead of the series opener. After getting bowled out for 194 in the first innings, India’s bowler put up a commendable show, skittling Australia A for 108, with Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini and Jasprit Bumrah getting among the wickets.

“In the first innings we got out little early because there was a lot of moisture on the wicket. In the second innings, we got an idea about the wicket...so in the second innings everyone tried and applied more,” he said.

“The batting unit was keen to spend as much time as possible in the middle. It was necessary to play the practice match with the pink ball. The bowlers bowled well, the batsmen got good time at the crease. Everyone did well, so I think we got very good practice because playing under lights is little difficult.”