Rohit Sharma gives a cheeky response to a reporter questioning Rishabh Pant batting at No. 4

Team India’s unbeaten run finally came to an end on Sunday with a defeat to World Cup hosts England. They were on the brink of elimination after two consecutive defeats but managed to beat the Men in Blue by 31 runs in a high-scoring game at Edgbaston to keep their semifinal hopes alive. Rohit Sharma scored his third ton of the World Cup but it was just not enough for Team India to get over the line as their wait to seal the semifinal spot got extended by few more days.

Eoin Morgan’s decision to bat first turned out to be spot on as England piled up a massive total of 337. Jason Roy, making a comeback into the game, and Jonny Bairstow gave the hosts a flying start by adding 160 runs in just 22.1 overs. Kuldeep Yadav gave India the much-needed breakthrough by dismissing Roy. However, there was absolutely no stopping Bairstow.

The wicketkeeper-batsman teed up his first World Cup hundred off 90 balls and although Mohammed Shami helped India claw their way back by picking up five wickets, Ben Stokes applied the finishing touches with an aggressive 79 off 54 balls. The game looked all over for India at that point and when they scored just 28 runs in the first ten overs, it drifted further away from them.

However, skipper Virat Kohli and his deputy Rohit Sharma brought India right back into the game by adding 138 runs for the second wicket. But both of them departed at very crucial junctures which let England take command of the game. While Kohli departed after scoring 66, Rohit departed soon after scoring his third ton of the tournament.

Rohit Sharma on Rishabh Pant

One of the surprising decisions that India took during the match was that of sending the inexperienced Rishabh Pant ahead of Hardik Pandya. With India at 146 for 2, Pandya would have been the wiser choice ahead of Pant who was making his World Cup debut.

India vice-captain Rohit Sharma was asked the same question at the post-match conference and he came up with a cheeky response. “No. You guys wanted him to play, right? You asked where is Rishabh Pant? Where is Rishabh Pant? Here he is… at no.4,”

Vice-captain @ImRo45 lightened up the post-match press conference when asked about Rishabh Pant ???????? #TeamIndia #ENGvIND #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/NSv3zVqFT3

— BCCI (@BCCI) June 30, 2019