“It’s always special playing against them”: Rishabh Pant eager to take on Pakistan at T20 World Cup

India will lock horns with arch-rivals Pakistan in their first match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Sunday, October 23.

A crowd of more than 1,00,000 people are set to witness the battle between two super-powers of Asian cricket in Melbourne.

Ahead of the mouth-watering clash, Team India’s wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has shared his experience of taking on Pakistan at the T20 World Cup.

“It’s always special playing against Pakistan because there is a special hype around that match as always,” Pant said in his recent interview with ICC.

“There are so much emotions involved, not only for us, but the fans and everyone.

“It’s a different kind of feeling, a different kind of ambience when you go on to the field and when you take on the field, you see people cheering here and there.

“It’s a different atmosphere and when we were singing our national anthem, I actually get goosebumps,” the rising star of Indian cricket added.

Though India faced a heavy 10-wicket defeat from Pakistan in their last meeting at the 2020 T20 World Cup in Dubai, Pant still has some fond memories of the game. The southpaw had stitched a 53-run partnership with then-skipper Virat Kohli and scored a quickfire 39 while batting first.

“I fondly remember that I smacked Hasan Ali for two sixes in the same over,” Pant recalled.

“We were just trying to get the run rate up because we lost early wickets and we staged a partnership – me and Virat.

“We were increasing the run rate and I smacked him for two sixes with one hand… my special shot.”

Pant believes that he will get a chance to display his camaraderie with Kohli in the ongoing World Cup.

“He (Kohli) can actually teach you how to go through situations, which might help you in your cricket journey going forward, so it is nice batting with him as always,” Pant added further.

“It’s good to have someone with a lot of experience batting with you because he can take you through how to take the game on and how to maintain that run-a-ball pressure kind of thing.”

Well, Pant had to compete for a place in India’s final XI as the team management is eyeing Dinesh Karthik to be the finisher the Men in Blue needs and the first-choice wicket-keeper.

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October 20, 2022 at 09:28AM