Rishabh Pant is an interesting character, who entertains a lot on the field with his bat and his chatter behind the stumps. He recently made his return to competitive cricket in the IPL 2024, after more than a year out of action due to his car accident in 2022.

Rishabh Pant impressed one and all with his fitness and batting form, apart from good leadership of Delhi Capitals team. This was enough for Pant to be named in India’s T20 World Cup 2024 squad which will be played in the USA and West Indies in June.

Interestingly, coaches and captains have had to use innovative methods to get Rishabh Pant to do what they want and former India coach Ravi Shastri revealed one such incident when he used reverse psychology on the India keeper-batter.

During a Test match in Chennai against England, Rishabh Pant continued hitting Jack Leach over the top and Shastri gave innovative advice to him to get him to stop playing the shot.

Offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin happened to overhear some of that conversation but got a chance to pick Shastri's brain only years later in the latest episode of his show on his YouTube channel.

In the viral video, Ashwin says: "I still remember this conversation you had with Rishabh in Chennai when we were playing the Test. He (Pant) is a very unique character, a unique guy, he's very special. He kept tonking (England spinner) Jack Leach over the top. You were having a chat with him the next day and you said 'arre yar chhotu, idhar mat maar na yaar, reverse sweep maar' (don't hit there, play the reverse sweep)."

"I was like, Ravi bhai has never said that. You will probably come to us and say 'grind it out' and all that. Then what prompted you to say that? Is it understanding of a certain character?" asked Ashwin.

To this, Shastri said: "Absolutely! Because I knew if I tell him don't play it (the shot), that's against his nature (and) he might play it even more."

Here is the video: