R Sridhar and Rishabh Pant. (Source – Twitter/X)
R Sridhar was the Indian team’s fielding coach from 2014 to 2021. The veteran was part of the Indian team in several ICC tournaments and has worked with many stalwarts of Indian cricket. The 55-year-old has termed Rishabh Pant as the hardest to make a connect with.
Pant debuted for India in 2017 and was touted as an X-factor for his unorthodox yet reliable batting ability.
The wicketkeeper-batter possesed the skills to play some of most staggering shots right from the onset. His antics could be seen in his off-field demeanor as well. Sridhar quipped that it was difficult to connect with the Uttarakhand batter.
“It’s a simple coaching philosophy. If they don’t learn the way you coach, coach the way they learn. A lot of times you say something and think the job is done, but if athletes are not picking it up, then you’ve not done your job. You’ve got to change your style and suit it according to the requirement of the athlete,” Sridhar said on ‘Anubhav Talks’.
“With Rishabh Pant this was an example because he was a young kid, a teenager, 20 years old. Just come after the Under-19 World Cup. He made his debut, but you know it was difficult for me to connect with him initially. It was a challenge because he had his ways, so you let it be. It took some time for us to build that trust and for that I had to change my style of approach to coaching a little bit and understand where he is coming from, what he wanted,” he added.
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Things started going south for the marauding talent when he met with a life-threatening car accident in December 2022. He was off the field for almost two years and faced a threat of leg amputation since it was severely damaged.
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The cricketer made NCA is holy abode and worked on his mental and physical strength as IPL 2024 was the stage for his comeback. Pant’s fearlessness was seen in patches, but it was enough to board a West Indies flight to participate in the T20 World Cup 2024. India eventually won the coveted title and Pant was lauded for his crucial knocks in the middle.