‘Rishabh’s Stubbornness Drove Me Nuts’: Former India Coach Makes Surprising Statement

He revealed that after he started ignoring Pant on the field, the 25-years-old himself walked up to him and asked for help. 

New Delhi: Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant is one of the most crucial player of Indian team but when he was just a youngster he needed to work hard to cement his place in the Playing XI. Pant used to struggle keeping to the likes of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja during home Tests.

Former fielding coach R Sridhar revealed that Rishabh’s stubbornness used to drive him nuts during his initial days. Coach had to try other ways to improve Pant’s keeping.

“There were some inputs he was little reluctant to take. Because he trusted the game that had brought him to this level. Sometimes, I must confess, it drove me nuts, his stubbornness. But getting angry or frustrated wasn’t going to help anyone. I had to find a way to get Rishabh to try and do different things, if only for him to figure out if those changes might actually be beneficial to his keeping,” Sridhar wrote in his book ‘Coaching Beyond’.

“We spent a lot of time together at practice, often just him and me and I decided it was time for a little tough love. I stopped giving suggestions and inputs and would ignore his quizzical looks when the ball burst through his hands or he fumbled with his collection. Rishabh has the smarts so it didn’t take him long to work out something wasn’t quite right,” he added.

He further revealed that after he started ignoring Pant on the field, the 25-years-old himself walked up to him and asked for help.

“After a while he walked up to me and said ‘Sir, you aren’t saying anything. Please tell me what to do. Smiling inwardly, I said ‘Maybe you should lead with your head and not with your hands. Satisfied at having got me to shed my silence, he did precisely that. As the head led the way, so did the body and he was more assured in collecting the ball.”