I remember telling Rishabh Pant that he is an extraordinary gymnast: India's conditioning coach Shankar Basu

While Rishabh Pant has been seen as a destructive batter with match-winning abilities, he possesses a lot of unspoken skills that can surprise a lot. Pant has found ways to be quick and match fit always, and one of the reasons behind them has been his gymnastic skills. He has been found on social media clips and videos, doing front flips and backflips in the gym, revealing his athleticism.

Pant never fails to entertain the crowd, and it was often believed that the left-hander had involved himself in gymnastic skills to make sure the fans view something different. However, India’s strength and conditioning coach, Shankar Basu recalled the conversations with Pant during the latter’s early days in international cricket.

Gymnastics plays a major role in the development of an athlete: Shankar Basu

Basu mentioned the Nidahas Trophy, where Pant was seen as a youngster in the team and the 53-year-old was quite impressed with Pant’s gymnast skills. He even suggested to Pant to call his gymnast coach and show gratitude. The conditioning coach further noted Pant’s reaction on how he was flummoxed to hear his words and explained his fantastic skills.

“I remember seeing Rishabh in Sri Lanka. He came to the Nidahas Trophy and before in the West Indies. In the Nidahas Trophy, I remember telling him that you know you’re an extraordinary gymnast. Please call your gymnastics coach and thank him for what you are doing now. He was like ‘What?’. He was flummoxed. He can do a kip-up, front flip, and backflip. You must have seen it on television. And he has got that explosive ability because of that,” Basu told YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia on his YouTube channel BeerBiceps.

Basu felt that Pant had a lot of gymnastics in his early years and noted suggesting Sridharan Sriram to leave the latter’s son in gymnastics to ensure his athletic development is quite good.

“I think he has done a lot of gymnastics in his formative years. Same thing with Sridharan Sriram’s son. He wanted to start training. I said ‘Sriram, put him in gymnastics, and apparently, he is playing very well now. Gymnastics plays a major role in the development of an athlete. Not all of them will get the opportunity to do that, but if you are able to from a very young age, nothing like it,” he added.