Rishabh Pant’s innings in the Gabba Test was unbelievable and magical, admits Marcus Harris
Marcus Harris credited Pant's innings as match-changer
|ICC
Recalling the loss at Gabba, Marcus Harris has admitted that Rishabh Pant’s 89-run innings was unbelievable and magical and called it one of the best innings that he has seen. Not just that, on day five’s action, Harris lauded Cheteshwar Pujara’s batting, stating that he batted like an Australian.
Having dismissed Australia under 294 runs in the second innings, India had a strong chance at breaking the age-old record, since 1988-89 at the Gabba, needing 329 runs for a win. Australia even struck relatively early, sending back Rohit Sharma for just seven runs but the partnership between Cheteshwar Pujara and Shubman Gill started tilting the game in India’s favour.
The duo were sharp, focused and more importantly, brave, with Pujara bearing the brunt of the Australian pace attack. While quick wickets set back India, the presence of Rishabh Pant gave the management a whole lot of confidence. Unlike the innings in Sydney, where the southpaw went after the bowlers from the word go, in Gabba, he was a bit more patient in his effort.
Eventually, he led the team across the line, with an 89, an effort that will stand tall in the history of Indian cricket. Recalling the loss, Australian opener Marcus Harris admitted that the southpaw’s innings at Gabba was unbelievable and also insisted that he showed his magical touch twice in the series.
"Rishabh Pant's innings was unbelievable. Everyone says he has magic in him, and he has shown that a couple of times now. It was disappointing to lose the series but sometimes in cricket you just have tip your hat and say 'well done'," Marcus Harris told ‘Cricket Life Stories’ YouTube channel, reported India Today.
But that was not it all, earlier in the day, it was Pujara’s effort that brought India back into the game. The Saurashtra batsman bore the brunt of brute pace, taking it all over his body in an attempt to save his wicket. His effort was not just monumental but his painful innings had caught the attention of the entire world. Harris was another one of them, with the opener calling Pujara’s innings ‘Australian’ and stated that he coped an absolute barrage from the quicks.
"The final day was amazing to watch. The thought process the whole day was 'are they going to for the runs or are they not?'. I think Rishabh played the best innings that day, but for Pujara to be copping an absolute barrage from everyone and wore them down, I felt he batted a bit like an Australian, taking everything on the chest and got on with it. Everyone else batted around him," he added.
