Pant keen to convert starts into big scores

The Indian wicket-keeper spoke to the media in Trinidad ahead of the 3rd ODI against West Indies © Getty

Putting being their World Cup semifinal exit, India are focused on the present, insisted Rishabh Pant who mentioned that winning the ODI series against West Indies is their primary goal at the moment.

India's performance in the West has been quite impressive so far. They won the T20I series by 3-0 margin and on Sunday (August 11) they took a 1-0 lead in the ODI series. Rain did play spoilsport in the series opener but as a result of Virat Kohli's 42nd ODI century, the visitors managed to overcome West Indies in the rain truncated contest in the second ODI.

Talking to the media ahead of the final game, Rishabh India spoke about India's mindset coming into the series and the team atmosphere at present. "Everyone is calm right now, we are just focusing on the match. We need to win this match in order to win the series, that's what we're looking forward to," said Pant.

India were one of the favorites during the recently concluded World Cup, but due a top-order collapse against New Zealand, India's campaign ended in the semifinal. "We felt very bad (after the loss against New Zealand) - but as professionals we know we didn't play that bad, just 45 minutes of cricket that we played badly. After that we knew we had to come back stronger, we need to learn and keep improving," said the young wicket-keeper.

India's middle-order conundrum has been existing for a while and after trying out several batsmen at No. 4, the issue is yet to be sorted. Pant, who batted at No. 4 in the second ODI, might get a chance at the same position despite the left-hander not making the most of a promising start in the previous game.

"We are not experimenting anything, whoever is in the team is getting chances. Everyone is confident about their position in the team as the management is supporting them," Pant said. "The wicket is on the slower side, so you need to give yourself time when you go in, then you can score more runs.

"As an individual I would like to get a big score. I am getting out after getting starts, so I just want to play positive cricket and hopefully I can help my team win matches," he concluded.