Rishabh Pant went to score a big ton against Australia A in the warm-up game ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Pant scored 4 boundaries and a six after he was hit on the stomach in the first ball of the over. He then went on to complete his hundred and remained unbeaten on 103 as India declared their innings on 386 for 4 on Sunday.
While Pant needed just 73 balls to get there, Vihari got a steady hundred in 194 balls.
“As the innings went on, I reached closer to the hundred. From the last over (of the day), I needed 21 runs, I initially thought I wouldn’t get the hundred on Day 2. First ball, I got hit on my stomach, that made me a bit angry,” Pant told
“I thought I should try to hit one or two. I tried hitting a big one and Vihari came to me and told me ‘Hey, you can get the hundred today. You have to try. If it doesn’t happen, you can get it tomorrow morning’. I thought, I will try it and if it happens, well and good. I got into a flow and went on hitting. I got a good hundred.”
“This hundred has been a big confidence-booster for me. It’s been a month, I am in Australia but I didn’t get the chance to play in the first practice match because of a stiff neck,” Pant said.
“In the first innings here I was unlucky as I felt the LBW decision was wrong from the umpire. In the second innings, my focus was to spend as much time as possible and the result is I got a good innings under my belt,” he concluded.
India will take on Australia in the first Test on December 17th.
