Bowling coach Paras Mhambrey lauds Rishabh Pant, says ‘he got runs when team needed them most’

Pant
produced
a
combative
unbeaten
hundred
in
the
face
of
some
hostile
bowling
by
the
home
bowlers
in
difficult
conditions.
India
set
Proteas
a
212-run
target,
thanks
to
Pant’s
fearless
approach.

“It
was
a
fabulous
innings
that
really
got
us
back
in
the
game.
From
a
personal
perspective
there
is
pressure
on
him
(Pant),
obviously
in
a
couple
of
innings
didn’t
get
runs
but
getting
runs
at
a
crucial
stage
for
the
team,
that
is
important,”
Mhambrey
said
after
the
end
play
on
day
three.

Pant
faced
criticism
for
his
poor
shot
selection
in
his
previous
innings
but
came
up
with
a
stunning
knock
on
Thursday.
“And
it
really
set
the
game
(up)
nicely
for
us
and
I
think
really
happy
with
the
way
he
played.
It
wasn’t
an
easy
wicket
to
bat
on
but
(he)
showed
a
lot
of
character
out
there,
really
pleased,”
Mhambrey
said.

The
coach
was
pleased
that
Pant
responded
to
the
situation
in
the
best
possible
manner
as
he
did
not
play
any
rash
shot
and
stayed
focused
on
building
partnerships.
“At
that
stage,
you
wanted
a
partnership
ideally
and
you
have
someone
like
Virat
(Kohli)
at
the
other
end,
you
wanted
to
stitch
a
nice
partnership,
which
was
going
on.

“At
that
stage,
as
a
batsman,
you
will
(have
to)
sometimes
take
a
back
seat
as
well
and
assess
the
conditions
and
say
what
is
the
right
thing
at
that
stage.
In
terms
of
going
ahead
for
the
game
and
in
that
sense
he
(Pant)
batted
very
well.”

Mhambrey
said
Pant
realised
that
after
the
skipper
was
dismissed,
he
took
it
upon
himself
to
take
the
leader’s
role
at
the
crease.
“Once
you
lost
Virat,
he
had
to
take
that
leading
role
and
which
he
did
and
then
stitched
partnership
with
the
tail-enders
as
well.
He
batted
very
sensibly,
giving
us
a
great
opportunity
to
win
a
Test
from
here.”

Mhambrey
was
hopeful
that
conditions
would
allow
his
pacers
a
fair
chance
for
a
fight
and
all
they
need
is
to
just
hit
the
right
lengths.
“It
is
not
an
easy
wicket,
I
think
there
is
a
little
awkward
bounce
on
a
patch,
which
has
been
created,
but
it
is
not
going
to
be
an
easy
wicket.

“We
still
know
that
even
today
in
the
later
stages,
a
couple
of
balls
did
kick
up,
hit
the
glove,
hit
the
chest.
Keep
it
simple,
hit
the
right
areas
and
be
patient
about
it,”
the
bowling
coach
signed
off.

(With
PTI
inputs)