If First Delivery Is A Bad One, I Will Hit It For A Six: Rishabh Pant

India's new batting sensation Rishabh Pant believes in see-ball, hit-ball formula, like his 43-ball 97 against Gujarat Lions (GL) which helped Delhi Daredevils (DD) notch up a seven-wicket victory at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Thursday. Known for his aggressive style of batting, Pant took the GL bowlers to the cleaners as he hit six boundaries and nine huge sixes but fell just three short of his maiden IPL ton. Talking about his batting style, Pant was pretty uncomplicated in his approach to all the questions asked to him, much like his batting.

"If the ball is there to be hit, I will hit it. If a bad ball is bowled, you have to punish it. Rahul Dravid told me to play my normal game without thinking too much," the 19-year- old said in a matter-of-fact manner.

Pant was well on course to get his maiden IPL hundred but fell short by just three runs. However, the youngster said he was thinking about the target more than the three-figure mark.

"I was not thinking about those three runs. I was only thinking about chasing the target as quickly as possible. It's like had I been there to chase down the target, I would have got those three runs. And if I would have got those three runs, I would have chased the target," the teenager said.

He admitted that promotion in the batting order helped him to plan his innings as he got to face more deliveries.

"You can see that (that he could play freely). Earlier, I was batting lower down the order and coming in probably in the 15th over. Now I have full time to settle down and play my shots. The pitch was also good with ball coming onto the bat," said Pant.

He came into the IPL on the back of a tremendous domestic season, which included a triple hundred, but he said he does not like to compare those innings.

"I don't rate any of my innings. I play this game for the love of it," he replied when asked if this was his best knock at the senior level.

DD need to win all their remaining four games in order to stay in the hunt for the IPL play-offs but Pant does not want to look too far ahead.

"We have decided to take one match at a time. We don't want to look too far ahead," he said.

(With PTI Inputs)