‘I was talking to Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni’ – Rishabh Pant recalls his tough phase before miraculous comeback

Rishabh Pant has become an all-format player for Team India. Things, however, weren’t the same for the swashbuckling left-hander post India’s 2019 ODI World Cup campaign. After IPL 2020, questions were raised for his shot selection, fitness and wicketkeeping skills as many former cricketers and experts slammed his approach towards the game.

Nonetheless, Pant answered his critics in style after the conclusion of the 13th IPL season, in the UAE. The 24-year-old got a chance in India’s MCG Test versus Australia during the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy and hasn’t looked behind ever since. Since then, Pant has slammed six half-centuries and two tons in red-ball format, four fifties in ODIs and has played some vital cameos in the shortest format as well. Moreover, his keeping has improved leaps and bounds whereas he is also the Delhi Capitals (DC) captain in the IPL.

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Recently, Pant recalled his tough phase at the highest level during an interaction to The Week magazine. The young keeper-batter revealed that he didn’t want to talk to anybody and only spoke a little to Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni. He stated, “It was a hard time and I shut out everyone. It was difficult for me to go to many people. I only believed in myself; I wanted to prove myself to the world. I did not want to think negative thoughts. I was waiting for my chance. I was talking to Rohit bhai and Mahi ]Dhoni] bhai a little bit. But mostly I kept believing in myself.”

“It was obviously very challenging. That was a low phase in my life. You feel good when you come from hard times and play like that (50 off 101 against England). But, at the same time, I do not think of either [fifties] too much. I just play on the merit of the ball. [However,] I did find that I could control my instincts better,” Pant added.