Rishabh Pant :The more number of keepers, the more I get to learn

Rishabh Pant was finessing his keeping skills at the wicketkeepers' camp going on at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore when he received the great news of being selected in the Indian side for the West Indies tour.

Pant, speculated by many to succeed MS Dhoni, has been selected in the team with two veteran wicketkeepers- MS Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik. However, the 19-year old was in good spirits and welcomed the challenge that came along with his selection.

"The more number of people, the more you get to learn. All I need to do is to evolve my game," Pant told TOI. "Staying in and around the team environment is always helpful," he said.

The wicketkeeper-batsman then explained how keeping the wickets had helped him grow as a batsman.

"Keeping wickets helps you grow your knowledge about how the ball behaves. You get the habit of watching the ball closely and that helps in batting too. It is important to keep an eye on the ball," he explained. 

The youngster lost his father a couple of days ahead of the Indian Premier League but then overcame his grief to come out all guns blazing in the T20 tournament while making a strong case for the Indian national team for the Champions Trophy. However, the Delhi batsman was chosen as a standby for the tournament but as he puts it, it just bolstered his morale.

"I always believed my time would come," he claimed while adding, "I was told by the management that I am in the scheme of things. Being in the standbys also boosted my confidence."

Pant concluded saying," I am learning a lot of innovative tricks in wicketkeeping but that's for everyone to see in the future."