Rishabh Pant stole the show by mirroring the Oval innings at Birmingham where the vice-captain upended the Indian inning into domination against English pacers. After winning the toss, England decided to bowl first while putting India to the test against the swinging conditions. India lost wickets in quick succession, toiling at 95/5. Rishabh Pant needed a crucial partnership to take the team to a decent total- let alone be a winning one. But, Pant quick fired against the likes of James Anderson, and Matty Potts. He launched a fiery attack on the English pacer to take the team across 300 runs on Day 1; thus, putting the hosts under pressure. Ravindra Jadeja chipped in with 83 off 96 while partnering the inning with Pant.
India still has the chance to touch 400 runs to be ahead in this game. Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant, who briefed the Press after the stumps, left the fans in a split for a “one-word” reply to the English reporter. Pant was questioned,
Reporter: “Were you originally coming in at six and did you swap positions with Shreyas Iyer?”
Pant: No
Reporter: You were always coming at five?
Pant: Yeah, I was always coming at five
Rishabh was dropped at 146 by Joe Root but Ravindra Jadeja is still present at the crease, just 17 runs away from scoring his ton. It will be an interesting battle for Jadeja who can keep steering team inning to a winning total on Day 2 of the 5th Test match against England.