India scripted history when they earned their famous Test series win in Australia back in 2020-21. An injury-ravaged India defeated Australia in their own backyard and retained the Border–Gavaskar Trophy. R Sridhar, the then-fielding coach, has now shared an interesting anecdote from that historic Test series. In the first Test match at Adelaide, Virat Kohli-led India had suffered a humiliating defeat. The Indian batting collapsed in their second innings and folded up for just 36. Australia eventually defeated India by 8 wickets
While speaking to cricket.com, Sridhar revealed that he was outside the stadium alongside Rishabh Pant when India’s batting was collapsing. The two were working on Pant’s wicketkeeping. Sridhar said they had not watched India’s innings, but they rushed back to the stadium after hearing the loud cheers of the Australian crowd.
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“You won’t believe, on the Day 3 morning when the wickets got tumbling, Pant and I were outside on the practice pitches, working on keeping. We kept hearing these loud ‘oohhhs’ and thunderous applauses at Adelaide Oval. And we were both like, ‘Oh I hope it’s not a wicket’. And after about 20 minutes, we cut short our keeping session and came running into the stadium to see what the score was. It was 21/7. Me and Rishabh were like, “What has just happened here?!’ We didn’t even see it live," Sridhar was quoted as saying.
Sridhar shared that after the debacle in Adelaide, the team management realised that the side needed a left-hander in the lineup. Subsequently, Rishabh Pant was drafted into the playing XI from the second Test match. That move of the Indian team management proved to be a turning point in Rishabh Pant’s career. The young wicketkeeper-batter went on to score 274 runs in the next three matches which included a match-winning knock of 89 at the Gabba in the second innings.
Due to Pant’s exploits with the bat, India registered an improbable Test series victory down under. The Delhi Capitals skipper impressed several pundits with his fearless brand of cricket. Rishabh Pant became the mainstay in the Indian Test team following India’s series victory.
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