Sanjay Bangar Feels Rishabh Pant's Fifty Put India In Position To Win SCG Test

Former Indian all-rounder Sanjay Bangar hailed wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant's scintillating half-century against Australia at Sydney, saying that the 27-year-old's "bravery" has put India in a position from which India can win the Test match and draw the series. Pant scored his fifty in just 29 balls during day two of the Test match at Sydney. The half-century came after a frustrating wait to convert his fine starts into something more meaningful that lasted four Test matches. However, he lost his wicket to Aussie skipper Pat Cummins and India ended at 141/6, with a lead of 145 runs.

Speaking on Star Sports, Bangar lauded Pant for tackling pacers Mitchell Starc's swing and Scott Boland's length well during his knock.

"The kind of bravery that Rishabh Pant portrayed with his bat, that is the only reason I think that India is in a position where we are still thinking that we can win this match. If you keep this innings aside, the way he played, the calculative risks that he took, the way he played those shots, because Mitchell Starc's deliveries swing in when the ball gets a bit old so he played the shots towards the square-leg. Scott Boland who hits the length, he stepped out and played him, where there was no fielder in the point region he played those cut shots."

Bangar said that it was a "composed innings" and hailed Pant for his diversity, having played a hard-fought knock of 40 in 98 balls, with three fours and a six in the first innings and endured plenty of blows to the body.

"So it was quite a composed innings, it was not that he came out and started playing shots without even thinking anything about it. When he plays like this, he has shown that he is quite diverse and you also expect that when a player has