Rishabh Pant's debut is a dream come true for coach

Pant, 20, earned his Test cap on Saturday at Trent Bridge, Nottingham when the Indian team's think-tank decided to replace Dinesh Karthik for the third Test against England

India's new Test wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant's coach Tarak Sinha wants his ward to emulate the likes of MS Dhoni, Syed Kirmani and Kiran More. Pant, 20, earned his Test cap on Saturday at Trent Bridge, Nottingham when the Indian team's think-tank decided to replace Dinesh Karthik for the third Test against England.

Coach Tarak Sinha with Pant

"When Rishabh made his T20I debut [against England at Bangalore in February 2017], I told him that this is not real cricket. 'Tell me that you have played for India when you get picked for Test cricket' I told him then. Today, I am a proud coach and I am happy that my dream has been fulfilled," Sinha told mid-day from Delhi.

"I always remind him that playing just a few Tests is not enough and I want you to play for a long time like Dhoni [90 Tests], Kirmani [88] and More [49] did in their careers. Even after the second Test at Lord's when they [Team India] were leaving for Nottingham we spoke about the same thing and I told him to remember what I said about capitalising on the opportunity not for only one or two matches but for a long time," said Sinha, who has also groomed Shikhar Dhawan, Ashish Nehra and Aakash Chopra apart from several other Delhi players.

The Indian team were depending on experienced stumpers like Wriddhiman Saha, Karthik and Parthiv Patel, but Sinha felt it is the right time to give a younger man to shoulder the wicketkeeping responsibilities. "The Indian team needed a good wicketkeeper-batsman, because whoever did the job after Dhoni's Test retirement are aging. Rishabh is a lot younger in comparison and fortunately he has earned his place in the Test squad early," said Sinha.

Pant, 20, is ready for the responsibility, felt Sinha. "Fortunately or unfortunately, he has played a lot of white- ball cricket and that's probably why people are apprehensive about him. However, he played sensible cricket in England recently for India 'A' [for whom he scored five half-centuries]. He even scored a triple century in the Ranji Trophy, so we expect a good performance in Tests as well.

"He is a very tough cricketer mentally. Test cricket will always judge your technique and patience and you must be mentally tough to overcome those situations. Rishabh has all these qualities," he added.

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