The young Indian wicket-keeper, Rishabh Pant has credited his maiden Test century in England in improving his batting skills in recent times. He is one of the few Pant, whose first Test runs came via a six, scored 114 in the fifth and final Test at Kennington Oval in a 118-run defeat to England.
Talking to PTI, Pant said, “When I got that hundred in England, the confidence rose to a different level. From there, I started constantly thinking that how can I improve in certain areas. The process of learning that started in England paid off in Australia.”
Pant carried that swagger Down Under as well as he played a record-breaking knock of 159 not out in the Sydney Test. In nine Tests so far, the 21-year-old has 696 runs at an average of 49.71 including two centuries and as many hal-centuries.
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Success has come early for the youngster and he knows the importance of learning. He said, “When you make it to the team at a young age, the more you are keen to learn, the better you get at utilizing the opportunities that come your way.”
With intense competition and consistent criticism, Rishabh reckons that he tries not to let insecurities become overwhelming which can leave a negative impact.
Describing the same, Pant said, “Insecurities will always be there whether you play for India or for your franchise in IPL. But how do you beat those insecurities and perform, defines you as a player. Stakes will always be high for India or Delhi Capitals, so if you let insecurities come in your way, it will be very difficult to focus on the job. One needs that balance to treat every game as same.”
Rishabh has credited Kiran More for guiding him and working with him throughout to improve his wicket-keeping skills.
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Pant elaborated, “Keeping in England was an altogether different experience. After that, I worked with Kiran sir at the NCA on a few specific areas. It included hand-positioning and body posture. Every keeper has distinct movement and I tweaked it a little and it worked.”
His performance will be closely monitored in the limited – overs series against Australia as he has been included in place of Dinesh Karthik who was the designated finisher in the team in the last 18 months and has performances to back his World Cup spot as well.
