As Rishabh Pant recovers from his injuries that happened during his accident while travelling to Delhi, India still anticipates his return. Pant has proven himself to be a crucial factor of the Indian cricket team and with his glistening talent set, he makes himself a priceless asset for the Men in Blue.
However, when it all started, Pant had his early struggles too. He used to grass a lot of efforts, miss silly stumpings and even ended up losing his temper too frequently. He needed time and patience to become the vital cog that he has become of the current Indian squad.
When Pant arrived in the international arcade, he got an automatic selection in the Indian side as Wriddhiman Saha was injured on the English tour in 2018. Sridhar, India’s former coach, opened up on what was a serious thorn in his flesh during his heydays with the Indian cricket team as the fielding coach.
Sridhar said, “There were some inputs he was little reluctant to take. Because he trusted the game that had brought him to this level. Sometimes, I must confess, it drove me nuts, his stubbornness. But getting angry or frustrated wasn’t going to help anyone. I had to find a way to get Rishabh to try and do different things, if only for him to figure out if those changes might actually be beneficial to his keeping.”
He further added, “We spent a lot of time together at practice, often just him and me and I decided it was time for a little tough love. I stopped giving suggestions and inputs and would ignore his quizzical looks when the ball burst through his hands or he fumbled with his collection. Rishabh has the smarts so it didn’t take him long to work out something wasn’t quite right.”
Sridhar concluded, “After a while he walked up to me and said ‘Sir, you aren’t saying anything. Please tell me what to do. Smiling inwardly, I said ‘Maybe you should lead with your head and not with your hands. Satisfied at having got me to shed my silence, he did precisely that. As the head led the way, so did the body and he was more assured in collecting the ball.”
