R Sridhar Reveals Ravi Shastri's Advice To Rishabh Pant

Former Indian fielding coach Ramakrishnan Sridhar mentioned the instance of former head coach Ravi Shastri asking wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant to control his temperament. In his initial days of playing cricket, Pant would tend to go after the bowlers irrespective of the format and fetch boundaries.

Shastri, who served as India’s head coach for four years between 2017 and 2021, had warned Pant over his shot selection after the latter got out for a golden duck in one game.

“We’ll let him be but at times when you see a shot, like the first ball dismissal in Trinidad, if he repeats that, then he will be told. There will be a rap on the knuckles, talent or no talent,” Shastri said during India’s tour of the West Indies in 2019. 

I remember Ravi Shastri spoke to Rishabh Pant about holding patience: R Sridhar

Time has passed and Pant seems to mature as a batter who reads the situation and plays like a team player. Pant rescued India in the ongoing rescheduled fifth Test against England in Birmingham, the southpaw scored a blistering counterattack in the highest batting standards in Test cricket.

Pant scored 146 in 111 deliveries, with the help of 20 boundaries and four sixes, to register the fastest Test hundred by an Indian wicketkeeper-batter.

“When Rishabh Pant needed a rap on his knuckles early in his career…he was getting out in Test cricket after getting 30-40s. I remember Ravi (Shastri) went and spoke to him ‘look you can do all is fine but you need to be a little patient here.

“There are six fielders out on the boundary line, why do you need to clear them. Just take singles and let them come up’,” Sridhar said in a discussion on Sony Sports Network.

Rishabh Pant’s Test hundreds

Pant completed 2000 Test runs en route to his scintillating ton against England, his third against them and second in their country. Pant has now scored his third century against England in the red-ball format with the other two being against South Africa and Australia.

Four of Pant’s Test hundreds have been scored in England (Oval and Edgbaston), Australia (SCG) and South Africa (Newlands).

Also Read: ENG vs IND: Rishabh Pant Is Brian Lara Of Wicketkeepers – Rashid Latif