'I must confess, it drove me nuts' - R Sridhar's shocking claim about Rishabh Pant in autobiography

'I must confess, it drove me nuts' - R Sridhar's shocking claim about Rishabh Pant in autobiography (Image Source: Twitter)

Rishabh Pant, the Indian batter, will miss out on the series against Australia slated on February 9 as the southpaw is recovering post his deadly accident which saw him getting ruled out of cricket for at least a year. Former team India fielding coach R Sridhar, in his autobiography ‘COACHING BEYOND: My Days with the Indian Cricket Team’ revealed several incidents within the dressing room. 

In one such revelation, Sridhar wrote about Pant and said that the latter drove him nuts on many occasions as the southpaw refused to take guidance from the coach and trusted his own game instead. Sridhar revealed that it was tough for him beyond a point to give opinions to the Indian batter and had to take other routes. 

Further, Sridhar said that he figured out a way to get Pant to his way and added that he chose to remain silent, ignoring the left-handed batter as the latter gave ‘quizzical looks’. The former team India fielding coach added that the young batter was not able to keep his calm and walked straight up to him to clarify what needed to be done to improve his keeping. 

We spent a lot of time together at practice: R Sridhar

Further, Sridhar claimed that he had to take a tough stand and get things sorted to improvise Pant as the latter is still considered the next-best keeper for team India. The current Indian lot is missing a keeper of Pant’s calibre and the Indian cricket board is keen on getting the cricketer back on his feet once he recovers. 

“There were some inputs he was little reluctant to take. Because he trusted the game that had brought him to this level. Sometimes, I must confess, it drove me nuts, his stubbornness. But getting angry or frustrated wasn't going to help anyone. I had to find a way to get Rishabh to try and do different things, if only for him to figure out if those changes might actually be beneficial to his keeping," Sridhar wrote in his autobiography ‘COACHING BEYOND: My Days with the Indian Cricket Team’. 

“We spent a lot of time together at practice, often just him and me and I decided it was time for a little tough love. I stopped giving suggestions and inputs and would ignore his quizzical looks when the ball burst through his hands or he fumbled with his collection. Rishabh has the smarts so it didn't take him long to work out something wasn't quite right,” said the former team India coach further. 

“After a while he walked up to me and said 'Sir, you aren't saying anything. Please tell me what to do. Smiling inwardly, I said 'Maybe you should lead with your head and not with your hands. Satisfied at having got me to shed my silence, he did precisely that. As the head led the way, so did the body and he was more assured in collecting the ball,” he added.