The 22-year-old Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant has recently called the former Indian World Cup-winning captain MS Dhoni as his mentor. Pant also opened up the impact of Dhoni’s presence on the field.
The 38-year-old MS Dhoni, who is the favourite of many teammates and cricket fans, last time served for his country during the heartbreaking semi-final defeat against New Zealand in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 on 10th July 2019. Since then, he has made himself unavailable for the game for a long time. Though he was looking to return to the field during the IPL 2020 as the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain, the novel COVID-19 or coronavirus has delayed his returning plan.
In the present lockdown period, the youngster Rishabh Pant was recently present in a live Instagram session for his IPL side Delhi Capitals (DC). During that session, Pant spoke about Dhoni’s importance in his career.
Pant claimed, “He is like a mentor to me. He helps me on and off the field. He gives me hints and tries that I figure things out myself so that I do not become dependent on him but he also does not just back off from it.”
Pant made his international debut at the very early age, in February 2017, through the T20I cricket. However, he made his Test and ODI debut in the second half of 2018. In the initial period of his career, Pant impressed as a batsman and as a wicket-keeper. However, while he has got bigger roles with the time progress, the youngster consistently failed to maintain the standard.
When Mahi Bhai is there, everything feels sorted out as you just have to follow his plan: Rishabh Pant
Pant chose Dhoni as his favourite batting partner. According to the youngster, Dhoni’s presence always brings a positive feeling into the team.
Pant added, “Although my favourite batting partner is Mahi Bhai, we get very few chances to bat together. When Mahi Bhai is there, everything feels sorted out as you just have to follow his plan.
“There is Virat, Rohit, whenever you bat alongside seniors, it is a different experience.”
While Pant has played 57 international matches (13 Tests, 16 ODIs and 28 T20Is), he has played with Dhoni in 14 international matches (seven ODIs and seven T20Is). Meanwhile, they have batted together in international cricket for four times.