When he first joined the Indian team, he was known for his incredible power-hitting but not for his skills behind the wicket. Pant was dropped from the team in the longest format of the game on a couple of occasions because his wicket-keeping skills were lacking, particularly when playing at home where balls spun sharply.
To secure his spot on the team, the Roorkee native knew he’d have to work hard in the nets, honing his ball-gathering technique. R Sridhar, India’s fielding coach at the time, worked closely with the stumper and was instrumental in improving his wicket-keeping technique.
Working with him, on the other hand, was not easy. Pant’s behavior was typical of any young person in their early twenties, who believes they know everything and don’t need anyone’s help. He did the same, and his tenacity drove the fielding coach insane.
Sridhar mentioned an interesting anecdote about the youngster and how he dealt with it in his book Coaching Beyond. He was trying to help Pant improve his technique, but he wasn’t interested in any of the advice he gave them at first. Instead of trying new things, he would stick to what he knew worked, which didn’t help his cause.
There were some suggestions he was hesitant to accept. He trusted the game that had brought him to this point. His stubbornness drove me insane at times, Sridhar wrote in his book, as quoted by the Hindustan Times.
However, becoming angry or frustrated was not going to help anyone. I had to find a way to get Rishabh to try new things, if only to see if those changes would be beneficial to his retention, read an excerpt from the book.
Fielding quickly realized that he needed to change his approach and show him some tough love in order for him to lose his arrogance and follow his orders.
We spent a lot of time together at practice, often just him and me, and I decided it was time for some tough love. I stopped making suggestions and ignored his perplexed looks when the ball burst through his hands or he fumbled with his collection. Rishabh is a quick thinker, so he realized something wasn’t quite right right away.
After a while, he approached me and said, ‘Sir, you’re not saying anything. Please advise me on what to do. ‘Perhaps you should lead with your head rather than your hands,’ I said, smiling inwardly. He did exactly that, satisfied that he had gotten me to break my silence. As the head led the way, the body followed, and he was more confident in collecting the ball, he added.
source: TRS clipsSridhar didn’t have to put up with Rishabh Pant’s obstinacy. He could have easily ignored him, but he didn’t. He was able to persuade the wicketkeeper to abandon his arrogance and work hard to improve his skills.
This is something that all good teachers do. They are never defeated. Pant was fortunate that Sridhar did not take his obstinacy personally.
