India wouldn’t have too many happy memories of last year’s 10-wicket T20 World Cup loss to Pakistan, but Rishabh Pant does have has some fond recollections of the game.
Pant had made a quickfire 39 and also shared a 53-run partnership with then-captain Virat Kohli as India put on a score of 151/7 in 20 overs in Dubai. It’s another story that a super opening stand from Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan saw Pakistan overhaul that total quite easily.
Rohit Sharma’s India take on Babar’s Pakistan in the teams’ opening T20 World Cup match in Melbourne on Sunday.
While revisiting his innings from last year’s encounter, Pant highlighted the importance and benefits of batting with Kohli.
“I fondly remember that I smacked Hasan Ali for two sixes in the same over. We were just trying to get the run rate up because we lost early wickets and we staged a partnership — me and Virat.
“We were increasing the run rate and I smacked him (Hasan) for two sixes with one hand... my special shot,” Pant was quoted as saying by the official T20 World Cup website.
Given a chance, the wicketkeeper-batsman wants to have a similar batting partnership with Kohli once again on Sunday
“He (Kohli) can actually teach you how to go through situations, which might help you in your cricket journey going forward, so it is nice batting with him always.
“It’s good to have someone with a lot of experience batting with you because he can take you through how to take the game on and how to maintain that run-a-ball pressure kind of thing,” the 25-year-old said.
About Sunday’s game, Pant admitted that the hype around the contest makes it special.
“It’s always special playing against Pakistan because there is a special hype around that match as always,” he said.
Explaining the emotions that are weaved around an India-Pakistan cricket match, Pant said: “There are so much emotions involved, not only for us, but the fans and everyone.
“It’s a different kind of feeling, a different kind of ambience when you go on to the field and when you take on the field, you see people cheering here and there.
“It’s a different atmosphere and when we were singing our national anthem, I actually get goosebumps.”
The gigantic MCG is indeed a special venue for such a high-voltage match and with the organisers expecting a packed stadium on Sunday, it will only add to the excitement.
However, it remains to be seen if Pant gets to be in India’s final XI for the opening game. There are still doubts and dilemma on who would be a better pick — Pant or Dinesh Karthik or both?