Rohit Sharma salutes Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya after Manchester heist: They didn’t panic

ENG vs IND, third ODI: Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya placed on 133 runs for the fifth wicket and guided the Men in Blue to a 2-1 victory within the three-match sequence.

Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant. Courtesy: AP

HIGHLIGHTSOn Sunday, India beat England by 5 wickets in ManchesterHardik Pandya turned the Player of the SeriesRishabh Pant scored his maiden ODI century off 106 balls.

Team India skipper Rohit Sharma heaped reward on Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant for his or her match-winning effort within the third ODI towards England at Old Trafford in Manchester. On Sunday, July 17, Pant and Hardik stitched collectively a 133-run partnership for the fifth wicket and helped the Men in Blue defeat the Three Lions by 5 wickets.

Pant and Hardik got here along with India being lowered to 72 runs whereas chasing down 260. From there on, they guided their group to safer shores because the guests chased down the goal with 47 balls to spare.

Rohit, who lately recovered from Covid-19 and missed the rescheduled fifth Test in Birmingham, lauded Hardik and Pant for not panicking underneath excessive stress.

“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 within the post-match presentation ceremony.

Hardik was additionally sensible with the ball after he picked up the essential wickets of Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler and Liam Livingstone. Hardik additionally received the award for the Player of the Series. Pant additionally went on to attain his maiden ODI century off 106 balls.

Rohit, within the meantime, admitted the Indian top-order batters acquired out to rash pictures within the limited-overs sequence towards 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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