Indian batter Rishabh Pant expressed his excitement ahead of India’s T20 World Cup opener against Pakistan on October 23.
According to the official website of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, Pant admitted that there is a special feeling taking on Pakistan on the big stage and hopes to get a chance to take on the arch-rivals on Sunday.
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“It’s always special playing against Pakistan because there is a special hype around that match as always,” Pant said.
“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 onto 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.”
Pant also looked back to the time when both the teams met in the same tournament last year. Though the result was not in India’s favour as Pakistan’s opening-duo Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam successfully chased down India’s score of 151/7 without loss to take Pakistan to a comprehensive 10-wicket triumph.
However, Pant still have some fond recollections of the game following his 53-run partnership with then skipper Virat Kohli.
Pant recalled, “I fondly remember that I smacked Hasan Ali for two sixes in the same over. We were just trying to get the run rate up because we lost early wickets and we staged a partnership – me and Virat.”
He further added, “We were increasing the run rate and I smacked him for two sixes with one hand… my special shot.”
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Ahead of India vs Pakistan match on Sunday, a debate over Pant and Dinesh Karthik in the playingXI is still on. Pant is the only left-hander in the team and therefore he might be a crucial one for the team. However, Karthik’s role as a finisher is also class-apart. In such a scenario, Pant is hoping to get a chance to play in the big match and wishing to get the chance to replicate his batting relationship with Kohli.
He said, “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
“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.”
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