"I am not worried about people passing comments on me now" - Rishabh Pant on his image as a 'freak' cricketerย
Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has spoken about how he handles criticism, especially the ones aimed at his style of batting. The 24-year-old is arguably a one-of-a-kind player, with his flamboyance at the crease almost second to none.
Pant faced a lot of criticism for the nature of his dismissals in overseas Tests. However, he silenced critics with a hundred in the third Test against South Africa in challenging conditions and followed that up with a landmark home season.
Admitting that criticism does get to him at times, despite cementing his place across formats. Pant said in an interview with the Times Of India:
"I am not worried about people passing comments on me now. But it does get to you sometimes. You have to look in the mirror and check if you had done your process right - like diet, training, recovery,"
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Opining that there are too many distractions at the international level, he added:
"There are so many distractions at the international level; it's difficult to do that. I think about my cricket and the game a lot because that's what I have always loved to do. You need to filter things and see what you can do to improve as a human being."
His exhuberant style of play has been endorsed and backed by the Indian team management and captain Rohit Sharma. The wicketkeeper has the ability to win games single-handedly for his IPL team on his day. Interestingly, with experience, he has shown signs of improvement in other aspects of his batting as well.
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"I try to focus on the controllables" - Rishabh Pant
From comparisons with MS Dhoni to shaky glovework at the start of his career, the former Under-19 player has come a long way amid constant criticism.
Acknowledging that criticism will not go away, no matter what happens, he said:
"It doesn't matter if I am comfortable or not. Criticism is going to happen anyway. I try to focus on the controllables."
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The Delhi Capitals captain believes that it took him around two years to change people's perception of his wicketkeeping ability, saying:
"You can't have results overnight, and it's difficult to change opinions in a month. It took me around two years to change that opinion about me."
Pant will next lead Delhi Capitals in the upcoming IPL 2022 tournament. The 2020 IPL finalists are slated to face Mumbai Indians at the Brabourne Stadium on March 27.