Rohit Sharma salutes Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya after Manchester heist: They did not panic

Team India skipper Rohit Sharma heaped praise on Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant for their match-winning effort in the third ODI against England at Old Trafford in Manchester. On Sunday, July 17, Pant and Hardik stitched together a 133-run partnership for the fifth wicket and helped the Men in Blue defeat the Three Lions by five wickets.

Pant and Hardik came together with India being reduced to 72 runs while chasing down 260. From there on, they guided their team to safer shores as the visitors chased down the target with 47 balls to spare.

Rohit, who recently recovered from Covid-19 and missed the rescheduled fifth Test in Birmingham, lauded Hardik and Pant for not panicking under extreme pressure.

“It was a good pitch, but we knew it wouldn’t be easy if we lost wickets early. It happened, but the positive is that these guys haven’t batted a long period in the middle overs and we got to see that from Rishabh and Hardik. Both of them were clinical – at no point did we feel they were panicking. They played great cricketing shots,” Rohit was quoted as saying in the post-match presentation ceremony.

Hardik was also brilliant with the ball after he picked up the important wickets of Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler and Liam Livingstone. Hardik also won the award for the Player of the Series. Pant also went on to score his maiden ODI century off 106 balls.

Rohit, in the meantime, admitted the Indian top-order batters got out to rash shots in the limited-overs series against Jos Buttler and Co.

“Not really. But we do understand that it is something we need to look into. We played some not-so-good shots and that’s what cost us wickets. But I still back those guys to come out good because they’ve done it for a long time. I’ve got nothing more to say, since I understand the quality they bring to the team,” Rohit added.

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