In transitioning team, Pant stresses on love and care

Leeds: With the back to back retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli just prior to the series against England, the dynamic Rishabh Pant now has huge responsibilities placed on his strong shoulders. Not only is he one of the senior batters of a young squad in transition, he has been installed as the deputy to skipper Shubman Gill.

The 27-year-old, on his third trip to the Old Blighty, appeared confident for the double duty in what is expected to be an arduous tour. “Obviously, it's a new start for us,” said Pant at the press conference here at Headingley on Wednesday.

“Definitely people have left. Yes, there will be a gap. But at the same time, what we can do is, it's an opportunity for us to build a new culture from there. Being in a great frame of mind, helping the new players to learn and improve themselves in overseas conditions. I think that is something we are looking forward to. Sharing knowledge with each other, having that care and love in the dressing room for each other. That is something we're looking forward to.”

Pant’s explosive batting has been a talking point most times he walks out to the crease. An absolutely fearless hitter of the ball, Pant is hailed as a hero when his daredevilry comes good. But when the same high-risk, high-reward strategy fails, he’s castigated and asked to bat with more responsibility.

When asked if being a senior batter and holding vice-captaincy would force him to subdue his natural aggression, Pant smirked. “See, it's an extra added responsibility. But at the same time, when you're in the middle of the ground, you're not thinking, I'm the vice-captain, I'm the senior player. You're just a batsman. You're going to do the best, whatever you can from your side. And eventually, the game will take care of itself.”

India are checking into England following five months of white-ball cricket, with their last game in whites being the final Test against Australia in the first week of January. While a handful of them got to play two four-day games against England Lions as preparatory tests, a vast majority of them will be jumping into the cauldron directly, with just one intra-squad against India A being the opportunity to get a feel of the conditions. Plus, they would be playing against the Dukes ball, which in itself is extremely challenging. 

Pant said he was confident of the batters coming good. “I think mostly it's mental (in terms of adapting). A little bit of technical is like in one-day and T20, you open up your stance a little bit because of the kind of shot you're going to play. But at the same time, coming to England, you're going to play a little bit of side-on, and that really helps. That's the basic technical thing. Other than that, it's just the mindset.”

Gill at No. 4 

India vice-captain Rishabh Pant confirmed on Wednesday that skipper Shubman Gill will drop down to the number four slot, taking over the reins left vacant by the just-retired legend Virat Kohli, reports DHNS from Leeds.

“I think there is still discussion going on. Who's going to play at 3, but definitely 4 and 5 are fixed. I think Shubman is going to bat at number 4. And I'm going to stick to number 5 as of now. And rest, we're going to keep on discussing,” said Pant.

The buzz is either Sai Sudharsan, who had an incredible IPL, scoring 759 runs in 15 games and has played County cricket, or Abhimanyu Easwaran, who scored two fifties in the two four-day games for India A against England Lions, will be handed a Test cap and bat at number three. There’s even a strong possibility of the returning Karun Nair, who usually bats at number four or five, being promoted to one-drop.

Highlights - Gill to bat at number 4  India vice-captain Rishabh Pant confirmed on Wednesday that skipper Shubman Gill will drop down to the number four slot, taking over the reins left vacant by the just-retired legend Virat Kohli, reports DHNS from Leeds. “I think there is still discussion going on. Who's going to play at 3? But definitely 4 and 5 are fixed. I think Shubman is going to bat at number 4. And I'm going to stick to number 5 as of now. And rest, we're going to keep on discussing,” said Pant. The buzz is either Sai Sudharsan, who had an incredible IPL, scoring 759 runs in 15 games and has played County cricket, or Abhimanyu Easwaran, who scored two fifties in the two four-day games for India A against England Lions, will be handed a Test cap and bat at number three. There’s even a strong possibility of the returning Karun Nair, who usually bats at number four or five, promoted to one-drop.