If Someone Provokes Me, I'll Give it Back - Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant, the young Indian National Cricket team wicket-keeper batsman, is currently on cloud nine following his scintillating outing in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Meanwhile, his aggressive batting has made the cricketing world debate MS Dhoni’s relevance in the limited-overs side.

However, the young cricketer from Delhi is busy dealing with the new fame he has found. In 2016, ahead of the Under-19 World Cup, Rishabh Pant, as young wicketkeepers of his generation would do, had promptly named Adam Gilchrist as his idol. Speaking on the same line to TOI, Pant noted that despite idolising Gilchrist and Dhoni, he wants to be himself.

“I do idolize Gilchrist and Mahi bhai (Dhoni),” says Pant slowly, “But that doesn’t mean I want to become that same person. It’s not about copying your idol. It’s more about learning things from them. I want to be myself. I want to be Rishabh Pant,” he claimed.

I will not hold back

Rishabh Pant attracted the tag of being MS Dhoni’s successor since the U19 World Cup in Bangladesh. As he drew attention for scoring big and quick, everybody mistook his audacity as arrogance and recklessness.

“I had to change myself as a person after my father passed away two years ago. I do realize what responsibility is,” he adds.

Now that Pant has finally found a foothold in the international circuit, it is now about striking the right balance between blinding fame holding onto roots. Rishabh Pant grabbed attention for his famous babysitting banter with Australia’s skipper Tim Paine caught on the stump mic. However, Pant has noted that this is how he is saying that he doesn’t like to hold back things.

“That’s how I am,” he asserts, “If someone provokes me, I’ll give it back. I had a duty to do for my team. But I know the code of conduct. I remember my values. I have sledged and people have actually loved it. That my mother and sister enjoyed it makes me happy,” he concluded with a laugh on his face.