The young Indian wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant reckons that the most satisfying part of his Test cricket experience so far is that his “processes are working” in the format and that he could completely trust his game. He said that doing good or bad is not a matter of concern for him but making his processes work is.
During a recent chat with ESPNCricinfo, Pant said, “I just focus on my processes. I don’t see whether I am doing well or badly. Because results obviously matter, but at the end of the day, your processes are important. Whatever processes have brought me here, I need to focus on that. On my work ethic, on how much time I devote to wicketkeeping process, what I need to do before matches. The most satisfying part of my Test experience is “that my processes are working. That I can trust my game.”
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Pant made his Test debut last year in England, a country which is considered as tough when it comes to wicket keeping and facing fast bowlers. However, he has a different take on it.
The youngster explained, “You face all these bowlers in the IPL. Domestic cricket has these same bowlers. Just that the ball moves a lot more in England. But that’s okay, there’s always a first time. But I can say that as a wicketkeeper when I played India A matches and then against the Lions, I had a fair idea of what to expect.” Talking about byes he conceded, Rishabh said, “if you see those byes, you will know whether 90% of those should be called byes or whatever.”
During India’s Australia tour, Pant’s behind the wicket banter with batsmen caught the attention of many. When asked if he, at any point, felt that he could land in trouble due to same, he said that he was just a part of hard, competitive cricket and never abused anyone.
Pant elaborated, “Yeah, I was aware, but there is no way I could land in trouble. I never abused anybody. It was normal, hard, competitive Test cricket. You keep saying those things because you want to play with the batsman’s concentration. It was good banter. Personally, I never felt that I crossed any line.”
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The youngster is all set to appear for Delhi Capitals in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Ahead of India’s biggest money spinner, he asserted that their only focus is to lift the trophy.
Describing the team’s perspective, Rishabh said, “There have been quite a few changes. The support staff has changed, players have changed, the name has changed. I feel we can do something different this time. At the start of the season, we are only focusing on how we can win the trophy.”
In his small career so far, Pant has played a total of nine Tests scoring 696 runs with an average of 49.71. In T20Is, he has scored 229 runs at a rate of 22.9 in 13 matches that he has played so far.
