“If someone provokes me, I’ll give it back,” says Rishabh Pant on sledging in Australia

Dixit Bhargav | 18/01/2019
Rishabh Pant on sledging in Australia

Rishabh Pant on sledging in Australia: The Indian wicket-keeper opened up on sledging batsmen during the Australia Test series.

India wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant played a big role in India winning the recently concluded Test series against Australia. Playing his first series down under, the 21-year old cricketers had put on display an a dominating all-rounder performance.

Finishing the series as the second-highest run-scorer (above India captain Virat Kohli), Pant scored 350 runs in four Test matches at an average of 58.33 and a strike rate of 73.99. Performing his duties behind the stumps, he grabbed 20 catches, more by an Indian wicket-keeper in a Test series.

With him scoring his second Test century at Sydney, Pant became the only the second (after Jeff Dujon) visiting wicket-keeper batsman to score a Test hundred each in England and Australia.

Apart from all of this, Pant also gained numerous eyeballs for his involvement in banters with respective Australian batsmen throughout the series. Pant was witnessed saying a few things to the Australian batsmen which included Usman Khawaja, Pat Cummins and Tim Paine.

In a recent interview with The Times of India, Pant disclosed the reason behind getting involved in sledging, laying emphasis on his personality of ‘giving it back’. Pant also said that his family enjoyed his banter throughout the series.

“That is how I am. If someone provokes me, I’ll give it back. I had a duty to do for my team. But I know the code of conduct. I remember my values. I have sledged and people have actually loved it. That my mother and sister enjoyed it makes me happy,” Pant told TOI.

Talking about the cricketers he idolises, Pant named former India captain and current wicket-taker batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni and former Australia cricketer Adam Gilchrist.

“I do idolise Gilchrist and Mahi bhai (Dhoni). But that doesn’t mean I want to become that same person. It’s not about copying your idol. It’s more about learning things from them. I want to be myself. I want to be Rishabh Pant,” he added.

Post Edited By: Dixit Bhargav
India tour of Australia 2018-19 rishabh pant

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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