Rishabh Pant was earlier under a lot of scrutiny for his wicketkeeping and batting before he turned out as one of the heroes of India’s historic win against Australia in the Test series. Former Indian cricketer Suresh Raina reveals that he had spent a lot of time with the youngster to give him a break from all the outer noises.
Speaking in an interview with Cricbuzz, Raina recalled Pant telling him that he wants to be the best wicketkeeper-batsman in the world.
“Bhaiya, I want to be the best wicket-keeper batsman in the world,” Pant had told Raina.
Rishabh Pant just wanted a break from it all, from the media and from everything: Suresh Raina
Chennai Super King batsman Raina further added that he did not have much to do with Pant’s growth as he is an exceptional talent. However, he helped him to let express himself freely when the duo meets during the practice sessions back in June.
“I really didn’t have much to do with it. He is a young cricketer bursting with talent who in my view is set to become a great player for India. Back in June he’d just come off a not so good time with the bat.
“There was a lot of talk about him. So, he just wanted a break from it all, from the media and from everything. All he wanted me to do was listen. He wasn’t looking for me to give anything, forget a solution,” Raina said.
“When we weren’t at training, he would be home all day, playing with my kids, chatting with the wife. We watched a lot of comedies on Netflix, ate a lot of good food, whatever he felt like eating, and just chatted away.
Suresh Raina and Rishabh Pant spent quality time with each other. Both of them worked on fitness.
“We would go for drives around the city, either in his yellow car or at times in mine. We would listen to the music that we both enjoy. It was all so positive and even during those drives, he would open up a lot, and all I did was let him talk,” he added.
“He did a lot of fitness work with me. With his batting, it wasn’t technical at all. It was more about getting into the right mind-set and feeling good about his cricket and his enjoying his game,” Raina further revealed.
Rishabh Pant scored all-important 97 runs in the Sydney to help India guide to a draw. He played one of the greatest knock of the contemporary world in The Gabba where he amassed over 80 runs to seal the deal for India. His explosive knocks helped India to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.