'Jab jarurat padegi ghar se bulaenge’, Ajay Jadeja recalls 4-year-old chat with Pant after his Gabba heroics

Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant on Tuesday hogged the limelight after his scintillating 89*-run knock helped India scripting history at The Gabba. His powerful and brave strokeplay pushed the Australian on the backfoot as the hosts lost their first game at this venue in 32 years8.

With this historic win, India retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as they won the Test series Down Under 2-1. Moreover, team India jumped up on the World Test Championship standing to grab the top spot.

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Hailing Pant’s whirlwind knock in the final Test, former Indian cricketer Ajay Jadeja shared an interesting anecdote and recalled the youngster has the same attitude four year back when he couldn’t make it to the Delhi's Ranji Trophy squad.

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Speaking on Sony Sports Network, Jadeja narrated the incident when he had asked Pant to come for net practice despite getting dropped and the latter’s answer stuck with him.

“I think that's the experience I have had with him. Every time there are questions on how he plays and I completely agree with that. He takes risks even in Test match cricket. It was that day in Delhi, he wasn't picked in the side,” Jadeja told Sony Sports Network.

“I happened to be around him and asked him ‘Why don't you come to nets tomorrow. You can practice even if you are not picked in the squad’. He said, ‘Paaji jab jarurat padegi ye ghar se bulaenge (They will call me from my home when they will need me). That has stayed on with me. That was almost 4 years ago, that was before he got picked up for Delhi. In a Ranji Trophy game someone else was picked ahead of him,” Ajay Jadeja told Sony Networks.

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The cricketer-turned-commentator further stated that the young crop of cricketers are fearless in their approach and believe in themselves.

“That's the mindset these young kids have today. They believe if they are good, there is nobody in the world to stop them. They don't want to play, everybody else wants them to play, they don't play to please people around them. They play how they wish to play. Pleasing others who are writing, talking about cricket, these kids don't think about it. They just believe in themselves, they put out their beliefs on one simple thing, 'I Know what is best for me'. I just love the way this Indian team plays,” Jadjeja added.

Rishabh Pant amassed 274 runs in the three matches and stood third on the list of the highest scores of the Test series. On Tuesday, he also surpassed the record of former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to become the fastest Indian stumper to score 1000 Test runs.