'I had shut out everyone. Was only talking to Rohit and Dhoni bhai a little': Pant opens up on 'low phase' of his life

Rishabh Pant recalled two peculiar phases in his young career which the 24-year-old found really challenging.

Young Rishabh Pant burst onto the scene as a 19-year-old in 2017 but it wasn't until his Test debut for India that he really made a mark. On his first Test tour of England and Australia, Pant slammed centuries in both nations and had immediately become the next big thing in world cricket. A few months later, Pant even received a call-up to India's World Cup squad after an injury to Vijay Shankar and was part of India's road to the semi-final. (Also Follow: IPL 2022 Full Coverage)

Rishabh Pant's young career hasn't been all rosy.  (Getty )

However, as quick as his rise was, Pant's career experienced a bit of a setback when it the second half of 2019, he got dropped from India's limited-overs set-up. He would have to wait almost an entire year to get his place back in the side. With Wriddhiman Saha injured after the 36-all out debacle in Adelaide, Pant played the second Test against Australia in Melbourne… and the rest they say is history. From there, Pant went from strength to strength to today become an inseparable part of the Indian team across formats. But even in his high, the 24-year-old hasn’t forgotten the low his career endured.

"It was a hard time and I shut out everyone. It was difficult for me to go to many people. I only believed in myself; I wanted to prove myself to the world. I did not want to think negative thoughts. I was waiting for my chance. I was talking to Rohit [Sharma] bhai and Mahi bhai a little bit. But mostly I kept believing in myself," Pant told The Week magazine in a chat.

Pant has tasted more success in Tests than in ODIs or T20s. He has played 30 Tests scoring 1920 runs at an average of 40.85. He has slammed four centuries and nine fifties, including his fastest and slowest half-centuries – off 100 balls against England at Lord's and off 28 balls recently against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru. In between the two, as Pant reveals, he endured another low as Pant went without big scores, first in the final of the World Test Championship and the during the Test series against England.

"It was obviously very challenging. That was a low phase in my life. You feel good when you come from hard times and play like that (series in England where he scored 50 off 101). But, at the same time, I do not think of either [fifties] too much. I just play on the merit of the ball. [However,] I did find that I could control my instincts better," he mentioned.