Rishabh Pant, India's keeper-batter, is known for his quick wit and witty remarks while keeping wickets, which is frequently captured on the stump mic. R Ashwin has now disclosed another of Rishabh's comments during the recent second Test against Bangladesh at Mirpur, Dhaka.
Team India won the second and final Test of the series against Bangladesh in dramatic fashion. India was left gasping at 74/7 while chasing a 145-run target until R Ashwin (42*) and Shreyas Iyer (29*) guided the visitors to a three-wicket win in Dhaka.
India had made a bad start to their chase, losing four wickets in the last session of Day 3. Following the dismissals of KL Rahul and Pujara, India reacted by promoting Akshar Patel to no.4.
After Gill was out, Virat Kohli walked out to bat but fell for 1 run in 22 balls, prompting Jaydev Unadkat to come out as night-watchman, and he and Patel batted out the rest of the day's play.
As India was losing wickets quickly, batting coach Vikram Rathour took turns asking the batters if they needed a night-watchman, according to Ashwin. While Kohli declined, Rishabh Pant responded with a fantastic response that had Ashwin in splits.
“Vikram Paaji asked Kohli whether he needed a night watchman. Kohli said that he will take care and didn't need a night-watchman. Rishabh Pant will usually keep the towel on top of his head and will lie down on the table. I don't know the exact reason for him doing that,” Ashwin said on his official YouTube channel.
Ashwin also revealed that when Rathour told Pant that Kohli had refused a night-watchman, the keeper responded do what you want to do, I will only bat tomorrow and if needed, send Ashwin or Unadkat before him.
“Vikram Rathour asked 'Virat said he didn't need a night watchman. Do you need?". (Pant replied) ‘I need watchmen throughout the night. I will go and play tomorrow. I couldn't stop laughing when he said that casually. When I was extremely nervous, there he was relaxed and cracking a joke,” Ashwin said.
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"Rathour Bhai was like, "We have only Jaydev Unadkat left. Who else should we send?" Pant was like, “Send Ash Bhai, or send whoever you want. I will go bat tomorrow,” Ashwin further added.
India won the Test by three wickets, with R Ashwin named Player of the Match, and went on to win the two-match series 2-0.
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