Rishabh Pant, India's star wicketkeeper-batter recalled the proud moment when he first donned the India jersey after impressing everyone with his consistent attacking performances in the 2016 U19 World Cup in Bangladesh.

India's U19 team might missed out on the title but Pant did well enough to get the maiden call-up for the senior side and soon became a key player, especially in the longest format of the game.

 

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Pant made his international debut during India's home T20I series against England in February 2017 in the third and final match of the series at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.

Recalling the moment, Pant said that it wasn't tough for him to adjust initially as all the teammates were welcoming and even the senior players made it comfortable for him.

 

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“The majority of the time I didn’t feel like that. I was in awe at the beginning. You had watched all of them on TV. But they were all welcoming. Even the super seniors made me comfortable. It’s the team culture to make everyone comfortable. And when it happens at the start, it's good. Because at 17-18 years you know nothing about life,” Pant told Star Sports in the acclaimed ‘Believe’ series.

“You have experiences, of course; I tried to learn as a kid. I think all of these things are a benefit, not everyone gets experiences like these. And the things you learn from your experiences help you a lot in your life. Your brain starts reading life like that," he added.

Talking about his performance in his debut game, Pant came to bat in the 19th over after Tymal Mills dismissed Yuvraj Singh.

Pant hit Mills for a boundary through the short fine leg to stay not out on 5 off 3 balls as India posted a total of 202/6 in their 20 overs while batting first.

The Men in Blue went on to win that match by 75 runs thanks to a remarkable bowling performance from the leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal who finished with incredible figures of 6/25 in his four overs.

Talking about his career performance since then, Pant has represented India in 33 Tests, 30 ODIs, and 66 T20Is, scoring 2271, 865, and 987 runs respectively.

Notably, Pant currently is out of cricketing action and hasn't played any competitive cricket for a while now as he continues to recover, having suffered multiple injuries in an unfortunate car accident he met in December 2022.

He is likely to make his return in the IPL 2024 and is set to captain his Delhi Capitals side.