T20 World Cup 2024: 'When Your Mate is With You, You Become Comfortable' - Pant on Sharing Stand With Axar

Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant revealed how batting with "mate" Axar Patel took away all the pressure during India's victory over Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2024 on Sunday (June 9) in New York.

With India in a spot of bother at 19 for 2 in 2.4 overs, Pant and Axar steadied the ship to take the team to a respectable score of 119 before restricting Pakistan to 113/7 to seal a 6-run win at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium.

Axar departed after scoring 20 off 18 balls, while Pant added 42 off 31 balls. The duo batted in testing conditions to take India to what turned out to be enough to defend against Pakistan.

Following the match, Pant and Axa opened up on their respective gameplans in a video posted by BCCI of 'Chahal TV' hosted by the spinner himself Yuzvendra Chahal.

Opening up on his gameplan while coming to bat in a crunch situation, Pant said that the plan was to play with a positive mindset and it was easy with his Delhi Capitals teammate batting alongside him.

"India-Pakistan is always a match of pressure. When Bapu (Axar) came in, the entire IPL, he practiced the same thing, batting at number three or four. When your mate is with you, you become comfortable. We were talking to each other and we were getting comfortable with each other. We did not think much about the situation," Pant said.

Meanwhile, Axar, who was promoted to number four in the batting order, said that things was made easy as Pant, his skipper at the Delhi Capitals, was joking around and having fun between the deliveries.

"There was no chance of planning when I came to know that I was going to go at four. When I went for the batting, it was easy for me. Our captain (Pant, DC captain) was not telling me anything about cricket. He was just joking around," said Axar.

"He knew that I would become a little easy. He kept telling me something on every ball. I also talked to him and it became a little easy. It was the same planning and nothing else."