"Everyone was quite tense" - Cheteshwar Pujara on the atmosphere in the dressing room after Rishabh Pant's dismissal

Cheteshwar Pujara acknowledged that the dressing room atmosphere was quite tense when Rishabh Pant was dismissed on the fourth day of the second Test between India and Bangladesh in Mirpur on Sunday, December 25.

Pant's wicket reduced India to 71/6 in pursuit of a 145-run target on a pitch that was assisting the spinners. Axar Patel was dismissed soon thereafter to put the visitors under further pressure before an unbroken 71-run eighth-wicket partnership between Shreyas Iyer and Ravichandran Ashwin took them across the finish line.

During a post-match interview with Sony Sports, Pujara was asked about the atmosphere in the dressing room after Pant's dismissal, to which he responded:

"It was a very tense situation considering the wicket because there was a lot of help for the spinners. So everyone was quite tense but we knew that both Ashwin and Shreyas are very good batters."

However, Pujara added that the players were confident that Shreyas and Ashwin could do the job for them, elaborating:

"The way Ashwin contributed and Shreyas has in any case been batting very well in this series, so we were confident but yes, it was a nervous moment when Rishabh got out because there was slight pressure on the team."

Shreyas had played 86 and 87-run knocks in his previous two innings of the Test series against Bangladesh. Although Ashwin was dismissed for 12 in the first innings of the Mirpur Test, he contributed 58 runs in the only innings he played in Chattogram.

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"The credit goes to Shreyas and Ashwin" - Cheteshwar Pujara

Shreyas Iyer and Ravichandran Ashwin showed nerves of steel during their partnership. [P/C: ICC]

Pujara highlighted that the entire credit goes to Shreyas and Ashwin for delivering under pressure, saying:

"The match could have gone anywhere. So the credit goes to Shreyas and Ashwin for the way they batted. They didn't panic and the way they handled the situation, it was very important for us."

The Saurashtra batter added that the team was aware that the job would become easier once the Kookaburra ball got softer, explaining:

"We also knew that it is slightly difficult to bat in the first 30 or 40 overs with the Kookaburra ball, when the ball is hard, but it will get easier to bat as the ball keeps on getting softer."

While Ashwin scored 42 runs off 62 deliveries, Shreyas scored a 46-ball 29. They joined forces in the middle of the 30th over of the Indian innings and closed out the chase in the next 17 overs.