Indian skipper Virat Kohli won his first toss of the series at Headingley and decided to bat first. However, things did not go as per plan as the batting lineup was dismissed for 78. England skipper Joe Root was happy to bowl first knowing the tacky nature of the wicket would work in their favour which actually did. However, Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant backed the decision of his skipper saying that it was a team decision.
In the post-match presser after the day’s play, Rishabh Pant opened up on how the day panned out for India backing his captain’s decision to bat first in the process.
“Whatever decision we take, we take as a team.So once we have decided we are going to bat first, we are going to back our decision. Yes, we could have applied much better but we can’t keep on thinking too much about the toss” said Pant.
Reflecting on India’s batting performance on day 1, Pant said the Indian batsmen could have applied themselves better. He also lauded the England pacers for getting the Indian batsman out cheaply.
“It’s part and parcel of the game. Everyday the batting unit is giving its 100% but sometimes it doesn’t go well. In the morning, the wicket was slightly on the softer side and they bowled in good areas. We could have applied ourselves better. We can learn from it and only move on. That’s all we can do as cricketers. You learn from your mistakes and improve” Pant added further.
When questioned on how the England openers batted better than the Indian batsmen Pant said that the wicket had settled a lot more by the time Rory burns and Haseeb Hameed came out to bat due to the use of heavy roller between the innings break.
They Used The Heavy Roller: Rishabh Pant
“They took the heavy roller, the wicket was much more settled down, and they batted nicely also,” he said. “But when we batted, the wicket was slightly soft, and they bowled in good areas, but we could have applied [ourselves] much better” concluded Pant.
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