My Role Is To Perform Well In Ranji Trophy: Rishabh Pant
Considered as the next big thing in Indian cricket Rishabh Pant, the 19-year-old young sensation who’s currently pursuing his graduation from Sri Venkateswara College in Delhi had already scored four centuries in first-class matches this season and is looking forward to prove his mettle in the foreseeable future and seems in no hurry for eying the national cap other than Twenty20 International games.
“My role is to perform and I do not think about anything else. My immediate target is to perform well in the Ranji trophy matches,” Pant said.
Breaking a 28-year-old record, Pant has the fastest hundred to his name off just 48 balls in a Ranji game against Jharkhand this November.
Handling pressure quite smoothly, the flamboyant Delhi dasher went past the 56-ball breezy hundred of former Tamil Nadu opener VB Chandrasekhar against Rest of India in an Irani Cup encounter back in 1988.
“When you are in the middle, there is tremendous pressure on you to perform but you can’t let it get to you otherwise you will never be able to perform well,” Pant added.
Having the aggressive style of batting, Pant scored a century for India Under-19 team to take them into the semi-finals on the same day when he earned a maiden IPL call from the Delhi Daredevils franchise.
On the verge of national reckoning, Pant has his role models in Adam Gilchrist, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and skipper Virat Kohli.
The southpaw has a successful stint both in first-class and Indian Premier League for Delhi Daredevil where he was sold in staggering 1.9 crores while having the base price of 10 lakh.
“I have no favourites. All formats — be it 20-20, 50-overs or test match — are equally challenging and to succeed in them, one has to learn how to quickly adapt to the situation,” Pant remarked.
In his 9 first-class matches, the prolific batsman has come out to bat in 14 innings and scored 1011 runs at the whopping average of 77.76 which includes 4 centuries and 3 fifties.
While calling it a “hectic schedule” Pant is staying with his mother Saroj at Delhi and has been enjoying the game and equally the time. He is most probably the first cricketer to play IPL before starting his first-class career.
“I badly miss staying with my entire family but I am happy that at least my mother is with me,” Pant, who’s the alumnus of St Gabriel’s Academy at Roorkee added.
Rajendra, who’s the father of Pant, has played an important role in helping the young cricketer in shaping up for the game of cricket, is running the New Modern Public School at Roorkee.
“I miss the days spent in Roorkee. That was a time when there was no tension or pressure. I enjoyed every moment with my friends,” Pant concluded.