It has been a tough few months for Rishabh Pant. A horror season as captain for the Lucknow Super Giants forced his hand into stepping down from his role as the team’s leader, not long after it was confirmed that the wicket-keeper batter lost his position as Shubman Gill’s vice-captain for the Indian national Test team.
It would not be shocking to expect that Pant’s usually cheery and upbeat demeanour was slightly dented as he headed into India’s training camp ahead of the one-off Test match against Afghanistan. However, Indian assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate credited Pant for keeping his mentality up and willing to be a leader in practice, if not name, for the team.
“I don’t think you need a formal title to be a leader in a sort of elite set-up like this,” ten Doeschate said in his press conference before the Test match. “Rishabh understands that, and I think he’s committed to being a good role model and senior player.”
Ten Doeschate revealed that the wicketkeeper had already had a tough conversation with Indian coach Gautam Gambhir, in which the former Indian batter was straightforward about the expectations he had of Pant even if he was shed of the responsibility.
“Actually, I heard him and Gauti having a chat around that yesterday – about how you want to conduct yourself as a senior player, how that extends to your communication, and how you’re going to play,” explained ten Doeschate, making it clear that the team wasn’t taking it easy on Pant, with the expectations of someone with his talent.
‘You won’t even notice…’: Pant remains the same player
“With Rishabh’s brilliance, we don’t want to take away all the stuff that he does, but occasionally, if he can adjust his game to play the situation slightly more, I think that’s something you’ll see him work on,” he expressed.
The good news is that Pant remains chipper despite the setbacks – while he has had white-ball struggles, he remains one of the leading keeper-bats in the world. Overall, ten Doeschate reasserted that there were minimal concerns regarding what sort of mood and form Pant would be in – and that Pant remained part of the core group in the team, despite whatever it said on paper.
“He’s been in great spirits again. He’s always one of those guys who’s happy and cheerful and drives the spirit in the team. You’ve got no complaints from him. You wouldn’t even notice that his role in the leadership structure has changed,” said the Dutchman. “So no concerns about Rishabh. I can’t wait to see him bat again.”
