Rishabh Pant: Every time I go out to bat, I just enjoy myself

This big hundred complements an India record 20 dismissals in a Test series, solidifying his hold over the wicketkeeper-batsman's position. He and Ravindra Jadeja had a ball as they added 204 for the seventh wicket, a breakneck alliance that broke Australia's spirits on another spectacularly sunny day and muscled India to a mammoth 622 for seven declared.

Pant had made consecutive scores of 92 against West Indies in the Rajkot and Hyderabad Tests in October, so it was understandable that he tried to speed through the 90s. There was one miscued loft over long-off that fetched him a brace and took him to 96, and a slightly agricultural hoick through mid-wicket next ball for the boundary that brought up three-figures.

"To be honest, I was a little nervous," he admitted with a sheepish grin. "I was scared slightly [because of what happened against Windies], but I got through that phase quickly. Every hundred I score in international cricket is special because I have just started my career. But I don't think about hundreds. I always think about only what the team needs from me. That's my only goal. The team plan was to bat on for as long as possible. When you play according to the plan, the runs take care of themselves."

Especially when he and Jadeja were flaying a tiring Australian attack, it was clear that Pant was having a ball. "The best part of my batting is that everyone in the team have given me the freedom to express myself," he noted, relishing that license. "Every time I go to bat, I just enjoy myself; that's the only thing I love to do."

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Rishabh Pant is the first Indian wicketkeeper to score a Test century in Oz

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