Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant recalled his emotions from the historic Test match win in Brisbane against Australia in 2021, revealing a conversation with Rohit Sharma that helped him understand the enormity of the team’s achievement on that fateful day at the Gabba.
Speaking on the 3rd anniversary of the heroic win, Rishabh Pant said he was not as excited as the rest of the team after he hit the winning runs in India’s record chase of 328. He added that for him, it was more of proving a point to himself after he was not picked for the first Test of that unforgettable series.
Breaching Australia’s fortress at the Gabba was special. What was even more special was the manner in which India recovered from the infamous 36-all out in the first Test in Adelaide to complete a series victory under stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane’s watch in Australia.
“I remember what Rohit Sharma said. A lot of people told me special things, but Rohit’s words, I remember it well. He was seeing my reaction. Everybody was happy, but he was not seeing me as excited as everyone else,” Pant told Star Sports.
“He told me ‘I don’t think you realise what you have done’. I told him ‘yeah, we won a match, we won a series here for the 2nd time’.
“He told me ‘when you quit cricket, you will understand the importance of this innings because you don’t know what you have done’.
“Then I realised what I had done,” he added.
WHY SUBTLE REACTION FROM PANT
Pant’s arc in that series was similar to the team’s journey. Pant was not part of the side when India were humbled in Adelaide. However, he came into the side after replacing Wriddhiman Saha for the second Test.
There was no looking back from there on as Pant starred in India’s fearless draw in Sydney and the big win at Gabba.
“I didn’t know how to react. I was playing in the middle, I was conscious about not getting over-excited. Yes, there was a lot happiness around. It was a very important match for me because I was not playing ODI and T20I.
“Even in Tests, my place wasn’t certain. I was like ‘how can this happen?’. I have expectations from myself to do well, to win matchess for the team. But I didn’t play the first match. It was like ‘dream-come-true’ to win the match for the team. I wanted that feeling.
“I was telling myself this. That was my mindset, I had belief in myself at a time when not many believed in me,” Pant added.
WHY THE SERIES WIN WAS MORE SPECIAL
India lost quite a few of their stars from the XI due to injuries through the course of series after Virat Kohli returned home following the first Test defeat.
Mohammed Shami went home with a broken finger after the first Test. Jasprit Bumrah, R Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari, the heroes of the Sydney Test draw, were ruled out of the series finale due to injuries.
Only Cheteshwar Pujara and stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane played all 4 Tests in the series. Rishabh Pant, who was dropped for the first Test, jokingly said that India would not have been able to field a XI had there been a fifth Test in that Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
No team had beaten Australia at the Gabba in 28 years before India managed to do so in 2021.
