Rishabh Pant focussed on performing well in Ranji

DEHRADUN: He is being touted as the next big star of Indian cricket with a strong chance of making it to Team India soon. But Rishabh Pant, the 19-year-old Roorkee lad, who scored four centuries this season in first class matches, which includes the fastest ton in a Ranji match (scored off 48 balls against Jharkhand) and a triple hundred to boot, does not let the expectations ruin his concentration.
“My role is to perform and I do not think about anything else. My immediate target is to perform well in the Ranji trophy matches,” says the wicketkeeper-batsman who considers Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni and Adam Gilchrist among his role models. Like his idols, he too, is learning how to handle pressure well. “When you are in the middle, there is tremendous pressure on you to perform but you can’t let it get to you otherwise you will never be able to perform well,” says the teenager.
Besides his Ranji successes, Pant has been equally successful in his IPL stint with the Delhi Daredevil team where he was bought for a whopping Rs 1.9 crore although his base price was Rs 10 lakh. On the same day that he clinched the Delhi Daredevils berth, he scored a century for India Under-19 in the World Cup, taking the team into the semi-finals. Ask him about his aggressive batting style and whether he finds it more suited to 20-20, the southpaw says matter-of-factly, “I have no favourites. All formats -- be it 20-20, 50-overs or test match -- are equally challenging and to succeed in them, one has to learn how to quickly adapt to the situation.”
The alumnus of St Gabriel’s Academy at Roorkee says that his current hectic schedule does not allow him to visit his hometown as often he would want to. “I miss the days spent in Roorkee. That was a time when there was no tension or pressure. I enjoyed every moment with my friends,” he says.
Pant’s father Rajendra runs a school – the New Modern Public School-- at Roorkee while his sister Sakshi studies in Dehradun. His mother Saroj stays with him at Delhi. “I badly miss staying with my entire family but I am happy that at least my mother is with me,” says the rising star who is currently pursuing his graduation from Sri Venkateswara College in Delhi.