‘Took the injection, it was painful and I couldn’t hold bat properly’ - Rishabh Pant on turning point of his career

India’s wicketkeeper-batter, and Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant is one of the key players in the Indian side currently. The youngster has achieved a lot since he made his international debut. He replicated some of the tricks and techniques of MS Dhoni behind the stumps, in order to be called the future MSD of Team India.

But a few poor performances with the bat made people criticize him for being in the team. He then worked on himself and now is the core player of the team. In just four years of his international career, Rishabh has seen it all. But he feels that the turning point of his career was when he faced the Australian team after overcoming an injury.

In a conversation with Jemimah Rodrigues, the Indian women’s team’s youngster, he opened up about the time he battled out his elbow injury and went on to play and win a match for India. “I got my first chance in the second match where I scored 27-30 odd in both innings. Decent start for me because I was always under pressure after coming back from there, and we won the match. We made a comeback in the series,” he said while speaking of the series as quoted by Hindustan Times.

“Third match we went there. We were under pressure, they gave us some 400 something. Injury happened in the first innings. He bowled a bouncer, it kept low and it hit my elbow and I was unable to move my hand in the first innings. I didn’t keep in the second innings. Wriddhi bhai did all the keeping,” he added.

Rishabh revealed that when he was taken for a scan, it came out to be a minor bone bruise which proved to be very painful. He said that he had to guard up for his team, take the bat and go out in the middle to bat in order to save his team.

“So we decided to take an injection to help with the pain. We have to see in the nets obviously, at first. So, I took the painkiller injection during the game, went to the nets and I was trying to hold the bat but it was paining. I couldn’t hold my bat properly. After this, there’s Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood and they will be bowling a lot faster,” said Pant.

The aim was to save the match and we managed it because of the team effort: Rishabh Pant

He recalled how he kept telling himself that he had to do it and play for the team and that he had no choice. He said that his team was under pressure as they had a big score to chase on the last day of the Test when he went in to bat. He revealed how he just decided to go with the flow and hit the ball whenever he felt it was the right place and time.

“There was a good partnership that happened between me and Pujara and suddenly the momentum of the match changed and we were in a position to win the match. And slowly, my pain started lessening because I was concentrating entirely on every ball and so the focus on the pain went away,” he further added while remembering his knock.

He believes that this game was the turning point in his life, and for the team. He said that he didn’t feel bad for himself as he couldn’t finish his century. But instead, he felt bad for the team as he thought he could have won the game for his team.

“Ashwin and Vihari, the way they saved the match. They were hit all over the body. Vihari had a hamstring injury and couldn’t run and we couldn’t go for the target. The aim was to save the match and we managed it because of the team effort. It was one of the turning points of the series for us and for myself also. Next match Gabba happened,” Rishabh concluded while reminiscing his memorable game for the team.