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'Work hard now and chill later': Team India's wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant

Updated on: 21 January,2026 09:23 AM IST  |  Mumbai
Subodh Mayure | subodh.mayure@mid-day.com

India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant does not believe in the concept of work-life balance; insists youngsters must push their limits

'Work hard now and chill later': Team India's wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant (left) and Ravindra Jadeja during an event at a city hotel on Monday. Pic/PTI

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India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant is not convinced about the concept of work-life balance. Instead, he believes youngsters must challenge themselves by working hard now and think of relaxing later in life. The attacking batter emphasised that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed his approach towards life and made him more serious.

“Nowadays, we talk about work-life balance, but I think people need to understand that first you need to work hard, go crazy about your work, and then there will be a time in life when you can relax and chill. But as a youngster, the best thing to do is push your limits because there is a lot of time to recover,” Pant, who was announced as SBI Life’s brand ambassador along with India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja said during a function at a city hotel on Monday night.


“My focus in life has been very singular. I feel you have to be mad about something to make it crazy. Once you go to [ages] 35 or 45, you would want to have a more secured thought process and planning, but before that, just grind it out from bottom to the top. Everywhere you go, try to learn and something beautiful will come out of it,” added Pant, 28, who has represented the country in 156 internationals (49 Tests, 31 ODIs and 76 T20Is) scoring over 5000 runs.



The big-hitter cited the death of his father Rajendra, as an example of how he learnt to be responsible at a young age (20). “I lost my father when I was very young, but at the same time it taught me to take responsibility in a positive way. That made me really strong, but one major part of getting serious came after COVID-19 [pandemic]. When you are playing as a youngster, you’re not really thinking about your finances. You’re only focussing on playing cricket. In my mind, I only wanted to play for India. That was the only dream; to win matches for India. Everything else is a by-product,” added Pant.

Meanwhile, Jadeja, 37, who has 373 international games under his belt, reckoned that security can bring the best performance out of anyone. “It’s important to have security. In cricket, you can play your shots only when you know your place in the team is secure. Similarly, every field needs to have the element of security,” said Jadeja.

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