Mumbai: His innings of 78 off just 27 balls felt like a desert storm at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday, but the cool and composed Delhi Capitals wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant did not wish to make much fuss about the innings that changed the course of the game and knocked Mumbai Indians out of the match.
Speaking at the end of the game, Pant put his whirlwind knock to the need of the hour as Delhi needed someone to up the ante at that stage of the innings, after Shikhar Dhawan and Colin Ingram had provided the platform for a flourish to the finishing line.
"I always bat according to the situation all the time. Today when I came in, I had to up the ante and so took my chances. It came off tonight," he smiled.
Seven sixes and most of them whips from the off and outside off stump to the long leg boundary and Pant said that with bowlers looking to keep it tight in T20 cricket, he likes to make ways to take them on and send them packing.
"In T20, you have to do something different. Sometimes when bowlers cramp you for room, you got to make your own room," he said.
He had scored runs even last season, but most of those matches ended with Delhi losing the game. But this time, his knock ensured that Delhi beat Mumbai in their first match of the season and Pant said that it felt good to contribute to a winning cause.
"It's been a great journey, trying to learn every day in my cricketing career. Always a great feeling when you score runs and the team wins," he smiled.
Asked if he was happy to bat at the fifth slot, the answer came with quite a pause. "Well, (pauses), glad to bat anywhere the team wants me to," he said.
