Rishab Pant’s dreams BIG
Rishab Pant's dreams BIG
It was dreams come true for the wicketkeeper-batsman from Delhi, when he got the chance to represent his nation in the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2016. But it was just the beginning of Rishabh Pant‘s dream and there are many to come further.
For any young player, it is very difficult to concentrate when he starts getting limelight but Pant seems to be very cautious about that and revealed how he coped up with such distractions in an interview with IndianExpress.
“The calls started coming even before the World Cup. The interest did grow a lot once I performed well and the IPL happened. I told every company the same thing. Speak to Tarak (Sinha) sir. I did not get involved, and it became a plus-point for me, as in I could focus solely on my cricket and not be distracted by contracts. Or I would tell them, World Cup ke baad dekhenge. Once it’s done jise baat karna hai usse baat karenge. I would hear about teammates signing up, but I was not bothered. Eventually see it worked out brilliantly for me,” said Pant.
Pant was the only Indian batsman to score a century in the tournament and also the second highest run-getter from India with 267 runs at 44.50. Recently, he was signed up by PMG group, which is owned by former Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar and spoke about the how he ended up coming with this group, “I trust Tarak sir blindly. He has been like a parent to me ever since I moved from Haridwar to Delhi three years ago. He would always be concerned and keep asking stuff like, did you eat? Are you going to school? Hope you are not bunking. I would tell these companies whoever sir asks me to sign up with I will. I never asked sir what they were offering. He said PMG, I said done.Apna nuksaan kar sakte hai, lekin mera nuksaan kabhi nahi kar sakte (He himself can go at loss but will ensure things are smooth for me). Having someone like Sunil Gavaskar there will be of great help too and I have an exclusive manager taking care of all my contracts.”
Pant believes in being modest and humble, even after offered by many deals. He says, “Aise toh I don’t feel like I’ve become very big. But at times I realise that most people take a lifetime to earn so much money, and I have got it at the start of my career. It is now up to me to make the most of this. Sir told me you don’t have anything to be overly happy about. Itne kum paise mein bikaa hai IPL mein. If you did better, you could have got more. Maybe he was trying to ensure my feet remain grounded. But how will this go to my head when there is the pressure to perform at a level like the Ranji Trophy?”
The young Indian cricketer also talked about his current plans with the money he has got into his bag and expressed, “I want to buy a house and a car. Car lenge badiya si (Want to buy a lavish car). I do not know much about what car to buy or how much they cost. Now I’ve realizedcricket khelne ka time cricket khelo (just play cricket), the other things will take care of itself.”