Mumbai, Jan 19 (PTI) India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant says it’s important to push limits as a youngster as there will be time later in life to relax, adding that he always played with the dream of winning matches for the country.
Pant said a major change in his approach towards his life and cricket career came during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he became more serious.
“I lost my father when I was very young but at the same time it teaches you to take responsibility in a positive way,” Pant, who was appointed as SBI Life’s brand ambassador along with Ravindra Jadeja as Jolly and Polly, said here on Monday.
“That made me really strong but one major part of getting serious came after the COVID-19 (pandemic)… when you are playing as a youngster, you are not really thinking about your financials and you are only focussing on playing cricket.
“In my mind, I only wanted to play for India and that was the only dream, just to win matches for India. The rest, I feel, is a by-product of it,” he said.
Pant agreed that work-life balance exists in all walks of life but urged the youngsters to give it their all.
“My focus in life has been very singular in a way (that) I feel you have to mad about something to make it crazy. That’s something I believe in,” he said.
“Nowadays, we talk about work-life balance, I think people need to understand that first you need to work hard, go crazy about your work and there will be (a) time in life when you can relax and chill back. But as a youngster, it is the best thing to push your limits because there is a lot of time to recover.
“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 top. Everywhere you go, try to learn and something beautiful comes out of it,” he added.
Jadeja underlined the importance of having security in every field to have freedom of performance.
“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,” he said. PTI DDV PDS PDS
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