Rishabh Pant has taken center stage since Team India arrived at Leeds for the first Test. He was named the vice-captain of the Test side ahead of the Test series against England.
Pant is now among the senior players in the Test side after the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin retired from Test cricket.
He has looked all serious with his preparations in England. Team India would dearly like him to get big runs in the Test series. He was a shadow of himself in the recently concluded IPL season. However, a century in his last game for Lucknow Super Giants has brought him back in some kind of form.
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India's Practice Session Ahead Of First Test
Ahead of the first Test, Pant, along with his Indian teammates, went down for a practice session. A report in Cricbuzz said that India's practice session seemed like a gully cricket session with the players having a go at each other. It had some fun banter and sledging.
The session began with India's fielding coach T Dilip's direct hit challenge. For this, the players were grouped into three different teams. Dilip is one to always begin the proceedings with some light-hearted drills. It was a fun session until what seemed like a heated conversation between Pant and Dilip.
Rishabh Pant even accused Dilip of favouritism, saying 'Arre who toh lefty hai, usko left mein hi khada karoge'. The session ended with the Indian players fighting about who earned the maximum points in the contest. However, the session ended in good spirits with the players having a laugh. There were several positive takeaways from the session with the likes of Prasidh Krishna and Kuldeep Yadav effecting direct hits.
Previously, Rishabh Pant in the pre-match press conference confirmed his and Shubman Gill's batting positions ahead of the first Test. He confirmed that Gill will bat at four while he himself at five.
Pant On Vice-Captaincy
Pant concluded about him being named the vice-captain of the side and the responsibility that comes with it.
“Personally, I am in a good head space. See, it’s an added responsibility but when you are in the middle you are not thinking, oh! I am the vice-captain, I am the senior player etc. You are just a batsman in between, and you got to do the best for your side. So, I haven’t changed my mindset. I’ve got more authority now but at the same time I’m not thinking about it too much" Pant told the media.
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