India's Ravi Bishnoi said he and Tilak Varma did not give up even when the odds were loaded heavily against them in the second T20I against England here on Saturday, telling each other that they would pull through. India won a close match by two wickets, achieving the victory target of 166 with four ball remaining, with Tilak Varma smashing an unbeaten 55-ball 72 and Bishnoi giving him company. Bishnoi, who struck two boundaries towards the fag end and made the chase easier, said he wanted to give as much strike to Varma as he was well set. "(We told each other) let's try, we will get (achieve) it. He (Varma) was set and I did not want to play a rash shot because we had less wickets in hand," said Bishnoi at the post-match presentation. Bishnoi added that he was bent upon making an impact in the match and show that even bowlers can chip in with the bat at crucial junctures.

"Today only I posted a reel on Instagram, saying why should batters have all the fun. When slip came in, I knew he (Liam Livingstone) would try and dismiss me with leg-spin. But I hit him with the spin for four," said Bishnoi, adding that this was one of Varma's "best T20 innings". Player of the Match Varma said the batters had worked hard in the nets to prepare themselves for the challenges posed by the likes of Jofra Archer and Mark Wood. "We were prepared. Archer and Wood are quick, our guys prepared well, we worked hard in the nets and we got the results," said Varma. On his partnership with Bishnoi, Varma said, "I told him to hold his shape and hit the gap. He played a flick and hit a four off Livingstone, that made it a bit easier."