MS Dhoni a mentor to me on and off the field, asserts Rishabh Pant

Aiming to fill in the shoes of an all-time great in the form of MS Dhoni, Rishabh Pant’s international career - limited-overs career, in particular - has not gotten off to the smoothest of starts, with the youngster often seen visibly struggling behind the wickets. Pant’s goof-ups with the gloves have meant that he has often found himself at the receiving end of ‘Dhoni, Dhoni, Dhoni’ chants from fans every time he makes a mistake and this, as revealed by several of his teammates, has considerably affected the 22-year-old mentally.

However, despite fans taking sides and berating the players, as is the case with almost every healthy rivalry in sport, there is no animosity between the two players actually competing for the spot. Pant, who still finds himself living in the shadow of Dhoni, in fact, labelled the Jharkhand man as his mentor and revealed that the former skipper always gives him sound advice when it comes to solving problems.

“He has been like a mentor to me, on and off the field. I can approach him freely with any problem I may be facing, and he will never give me the entire solution for it. This is so that I don’t become entirely dependent on him, he gives me hints only that helps me solve the issue myself,” Pant told the Delhi Capitals franchise.

Pant’s international debut came against England in 2017 and incidentally, the Delhi youngster’s first batting partner happened to be none other than Dhoni, who scored a fifty in that encounter. The duo have, however, hardly batted together ever since, but the 22-year-old stated that ‘Mahi Bhai’ still remains one of his favourite batting partners. The young wicket-keeper batsman further expressed his admiration for Dhoni’s clear way of thinking and added that as teammates, all the players need to do is follow the latter’s instructions. 

“He’s also one of my favourite batting partners, though it’s not something that happens too often. If Mahi bhai is at the crease, you know things are sorted. He’s got a plan in his head, and all you need to do is follow it!”