Rishabh Pant admits World Cup is always on his mind

Rishabh Pant was given a chance to audition for the World Cup berth in the final two ODIs against Australia at home as MS Dhoni was rested. However, the talented youngster, who was widely expected to fill in the shoes of Dhoni, was under par with his performance leaving a lot to be desired.

He returned with figures of 36 and 16 in the two matches he played, while he was also very sloppy with his glove work. His recent limited over performances have put his spot for the mega tournament in jeopardy, and Pant did not shy away from revealing the fact that he was thinking about it. “It [World Cup] will always be at the back of my mind,” the 21-year-old said, as reported by CricketNext.

Having a great IPL season last year, where he was named the “Emerging player” of the tournament, Pant smashed 684 runs at a strike rate of 173 and averaged over 52. And he has assured that his current focus has been on the tournament only.

“But right now, I am not focusing on that. I am too focused on the IPL and wanting to make my team win. See, as a player I want to keep improving every day. I’ve seen a few areas in my game where I need to work on and I’ve talked about my game to Mahi bhai (Dhoni) about that. But as a player, you need to keep improving, every match, every day,” Pant added.

The experience and calmness that former captain MS Dhoni has brought to the table were always going to be difficult to match. Pant, who has seen him very closely, also echoed the opinion of the masses.

“His (Dhoni’s) aura is totally different when he comes to the dressing room. The calmness is there, and you can talk to him about anything, any problem. That’s the kind of aura he shares with everyone, he makes you comfortable. He gives you advice, but whether you want to take it or not is your wish,” he signed off.