Pant hails fighting spirit

India captain Rishabh Pant hailed the fighting spirit of the side after the host came back from two games down to take the five-match series against South Africa into the decider, which was washed out here on Sunday.

The wicketkeeper-batter said that there are a lot of positives to take from the series that ended 2-2. “It might get a little bit frustrating, but there are a lot of positives, especially the way the whole team showed character after the series was 0-2. We are trying to find different ways of winning matches, we are trying to play in a new way. “Mistakes will happen, but we are going in the right way. I think this is the first time I have lost this many tosses, but it is not in my control, so I am not thinking about it too much,” Pant said after the final match was called off due to rain.

On his personal form, Pant said: “From a personal point of view, I would like to contribute more to making my team win. I can only think about giving my 100 per cent as a player and captain.” South Africa skipper Keshav Maharaj, who stood in for injured regular captain Temba Bavuma, said that it was disappointing to draw the curtains on such an exciting tour in this fashion. “Very disappointed we didn’t get a full game for the end of an exciting tour. We tried a few combinations. Still a work in progress for Australia. You may still see changes. I am sure the future series against India will be interesting like this one.

“We carried our confidence from past tours and at the same time we did not want to take anything for granted,” he said.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who finished with six wickets for 85 runs, won the ‘Player of the series’ award.