The hard times have taught Rishabh Pant a lesson. That there is “nothing called natural game”.

India lost Sunday’s contest against the West Indies, but for Pant the day brought a huge relief as he played an innings of substance after quite some time. The critics have been vocal about him doing little justice to the team management’s faith in him. His innings of 71 will perhaps give him a good night’s sleep.

The 22-year-old, however, was pretty mature with his answers at the post-match media conference.

“When we were kids, we would be advised to play our natural game, but since I began playing international cricket, I have realised that there is nothing called natural game. You have to play according to the situation and what the team needs. A good player is one who can mould his game according the situation and the team’s demand,” Pant said.

Asked how important was the innings for him, Pant said: “When you play for India, every innings is important. As a youngster, I want to learn and improve myself every-time I play cricket.”

“I was looking to improve every day but I was not getting there. I am not saying that I have got there, but I am on my way. It’s my learning curve. I want to do whatever I can to get a good score on the board.”

On dealing with criticism, Pant said: “As a player, I only want to follow my processes. I am aware of the talks. Some are good and others not so good, but for the more I concentrate on my job the better it is.”

And what would be his advice to someone who might go through a similar testing period? “That you have to believe in yourself. It doesn’t matter what people say about you. At times you will get runs, while that might not happen on other days. But the process is always important.

“The team management has told me to calm myself and keep improving the game and fitness. Basically improve in all aspects. That is what I am doing.”

Speaking about Shimron Hetmyer’s knock, that knocked India out of the contest, the wicketkeeper-batsman said: “He played brilliantly. He took his team home. He set the tempo for them. Shai Hope was not getting too many runs, but because of Hetmyer he was able get a century.”

Did he curb his natural instincts on Sunday to play according to the situation?

“When Iyer and I got together, we wanted to get a partnership going. We wanted to be together till the 40th over as we had lost three early wickets and the 50 overs game is a long one. We thought if we are able to do that, we and the rest of the team would be able to capitalise on that. So that is how I went about my job.”