India vs Australia | Team’s plan was to bat as long as possible, reveals Rishabh Pant

Cheteshwar Pujara got out on 193 runs on the day two of the final Test match of the Australia-India Test series and missed out on a memorable double century. But the man who came at the fall of Hanuma Vihari's wicket- Rishabh Pant - more than compensated for the absence of Pujara as he scored a brisk 159 at the strike rate of almost 85. Rishabh Pant explained that every century is an important one for him as he is still at an initial stage of his international career.

"Every hundred I score in international cricket is special for me because I have just started my career. But the main thing is that I don't think about hundreds. I just always think about only one thing - what the team needs from me. That's the only goal I have"The team plan was to bat on for as long as possible. I played according to the team plan, and then the runs take care of themselves," Pant said in the press conference, reported Cricbuzz.

In his last Test series against Windies, Rishabh Pant missed on a couple of centuries getting out twice on the score of 92 runs. Even in today’s innings, he mistimed a couple of shots in his 90s but completed his century with a boundary. He also admitted that he was a little nervous during that phase of his innings today due to his past record.

"To be honest, I was a little nervous, because in India when we were playing West Indies, in the last two innings, I got out on 92 and 92. So I was scared slightly but I got through that phase quickly."

Pant also explained that most of the time he is batting, at the other end he has no real support but this time around he had all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who also got 81 runs in this innings.

"I don't think anything changed from my side. The main thing was that I was playing with a batsman this time. Most of the time, when I got a start, I was playing with the tail. If I am batting with the tail, I have to think differently because most of the time, I have to score the runs. But when you are batting with a batsman, that's a different thing. You have seen it today.

"The best part of my batting is that everyone in the team has given me the freedom to express myself. Every time when I go to bat, I just enjoy myself, that's the only thing I love to do," he added.

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