R Sridhar was part of the Indian coaching setup for a long time before stepping down from his role after the T20 World Cup 2021 in UAE. He shared the dressing room with many stars and with the help of captains like MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma, helped the team become a force in fielding as well.
He has recalled several anecdotes and stories about his time with the Indian team in his biography ‘Coaching Beyond’ and the recent most is about Rishabh Pant.
Pant is currently recovering from his injuries and surgery on his knee after he met with a serious car accident in December last year which has ruled him out of cricket for a good year or so.
In his book, Sridhar recalls how he felt helpless and angry when Rishabh Pant turned a deaf ear to his suggestions on how he could become a better wicketkeeper during the time he was struggling with the gloves behind the stumps.
“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,” Sridhar wrote as quoted by Indian Express.
Pant was in trouble as his performance behind the stumps was not satisfactory. This led to India trying out KL Rahul as the keeper in limited overs cricket and Wriddhiman Saha was the first choice in Tests.
“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,” he added.
Sridhar then writes that when his methods to improve his keeping didn’t work, Pant approached the coach for help and he finally received some words of wisdom which helped him a lot.
Sridhar writes: “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.”
Since then Rishabh Pant usurped Wriddhiman Saha to become the no.1 choice wicketkeeper at home also after giving a brilliant performance with the gloves and the bat on the 2020/21 tour of Australia.
(Indian Express inputs)
