Ravi Shastri Reveals MS Dhoni’s Role Behind Rishabh Pant’s Impressive Show In Australia Tests
Jan 19, 2019 at 8:24 AM
Rishabh Pant had a tour of Australia to remember. The highly-rated wicketkeeper-batsman has all but sealed his spot in the playing eleven of the Test after his impressive displays with the bat. He enhanced his reputation with a stunning century in the fourth Test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Pant smashed a historic ton to help India pile up a mammoth total of 622 for 7. The southpaw had got the starts in every match of the series but was just not being able to make them count. However, he finally capitalised on the start in Sydney and smashed an unbeaten 159. Consequently, he ended up creating and breaking quite a number of records during his stunning knock.
Rishabh Pant became the first Indian keeper to score a Test century in Australia. The previous highest score by an Indian keeper in Australia was 89 by Farokh Engineer in the 1967 Adelaide Test. A few months ago, he had also become the first Indian wicketkeeper to score a Test century in England. He now holds the record of highest overseas score by an Indian wicketkeeper in Tests and also became the first Indian wicketkeeper to score a 150+ score in Test cricket away from home. The previous highest individual Test score by an Indian keeper outside India was MS Dhoni’s 148 in the 2006 Faisalabad Test against Pakistan. Pant also became the first Indian wicketkeeper to score two Test tons outside India.
India head coach Ravi Shastri has now revealed how Pant benefitted from taking tips from his illustrious predecessor MS Dhoni. In an interview with The Telegraph, Shastri revealed that Dhoni is Pant’s hero before lifting the lids on Dhoni’s role.
“His [Pant] hero is MS. Every day he is on the phone to MS. I think during the Test series, he must have spoken more to MS than anyone else. It is great when you have that mutual respect. Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni, the respect they have for each other is unbelievable, so it makes my job in the dressing room so much easier.” said Shastri.
Pant finished the series as the second top-scorer, leaving behind the likes of Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane. With 350 runs, he was one of the only two batsmen who crossed the 300-run mark in the series.