Upbeat Rishabh Pant always focuses on learning

The wicketkeeper-batsman has been fantastic for India so far.

Pant scored his maiden Test hundred at the Oval | Getty

Having made his Test and ODI debut this year, young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant says that his immediate objective is to work as hard as possible over his game and learn as much as he can in this phase.

Kickstarting his career in the whites with an impressive showing in the Trent Bridge Test during the five-match series against England and following it up with a fantastic maiden ton at the Oval before amassing twin 92's versus West Indies at home, Rishabh is feeling good about himself as a red-ball player and knows how special playing Test Cricket is.

"That I could play red-ball cricket was important too. My childhood coach Tarak Sinha always maintained that he would not consider me an international player unless I played Test cricket," he told Times of India, "To do it(scoring his first hundred) in England against such an attack was very important for me."

Despite a stellar first-class record for Delhi, Rishabh was thought to a one-day specialist and while he did really well in the ODIs and T20Is against West Indies recently, Pant is relieved to have proven a point to people.

"If people tag me, it doesn't mean I have to change. I improve in my own way and always focus on that. There were no spots in the team earlier. The moment there was a vacancy, I ensured I was performing," he affirmed.

The admirable talent also talked about the stiff competition he faces from the outstanding Wriddhiman Saha and the mighty Mahendra Singh Dhoni across all formats and said, "I am not here to compete with anyone. For me, this phase is all about learning. I keep going up to Mahi bhai and pick up things," before emphasizing on the social media fanwar criticism that a player like him goes through, "Social media is a part of everyone's life. You can't ignore it. But I have learnt to keep off-field hype back in my room."

"And it doesn't matter if you have played 500 international matches, you are bound to be nervous when you take the field and I believe that's a good thing."

On the time spent with the freakishly good Virat Kohli, Pant said, "Virat bhaiya told me that playing 50 matches doesn't mean you are experienced. A person with three-four games can be equally experienced if he picks up from others' mistakes."

Having been picked for the tough tour of Australia, Pant also gave away an insight into how he is preparing for the stiffest challenge of his career so far and stressed that he isn't too perturbed but focussed.

"Ravi sir (coach Shastri) is constantly in touch over the phone. He keeps talking to me about the conditions and how cricket is played in Australia. Rohit (Sharma) bhaiya has told me to give myself some time to settle and then play my game. Mentally, I am already there," he signed off.

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 15 Nov, 2018

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