I segregated myself from noise on social media and focused on my cricket: Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant has become the most loved cricketer of India after his sheer brilliance in the Australia Tests that led the team to bag the valuable trophy once again. However, it can’t be ignored that life was not a cakewalk for him before his heroics in the Test series. He was struggling with weight issues and was criticized way too much for his poor gloves work. He became the butt of jokes on social media, but it didn’t stop Pant to work hard further.

The Delhi batsman had a decent IPL 2020, where he amassed 343 runs in 14 games for the Delhi franchise. Pant was dealing with fitness issues all this while, and was even ignored from India’s limited-overs series against the Aussies. Even after a swashbuckling century in the 2nd practice game against Australia, he was not selected for Adelaide Test. Wriddhiman Saha was considered a preferred pick over the young wicketkeeper all the while.

However, he flaunted his masterclass right from the Boxing Day Test and didn’t look back ever. However, he recently opened about his struggles and added how he ignored everything on social media and just focused on his cricket to bloom in coming matches.

I was feeling the heat each and every day: Rishabh Pant

“I was feeling the heat each and every day, it’s part and parcel of the game. But as an individual, you need to believe in yourself. I was lucky that I had a few people around me who told me to keep believing in myself and just keep working hard,” said Rishabh Pant to Boria Majumdar on Sports Today.

Pant’s hard work paid off well as he emerged as the 3rd highest run-getter from the Test series by massing 274 runs from three matches. It included a valiant knock of 97 runs in Sydney and an impressive match-winning knock of 89 runs.

“If you’re moving forward then you’re improving, this is what I’ve learnt during the tough phase. Focus so much on your game that you don’t notice anything else. It’s difficult also to block the outside noise because of social media, but I have segregated myself from it,” Pant concluded.