I'm just trying to give my hundred per cent each and every day: Rishabh Pant

Ever since making his debut for India, Rishabh Pant has seen both sides of the game, the good and the bad. From being jeered by fans to having himself glorified by a capacity crowd, Pant's growth has been remarkable.

The Roorkee-born has slowly but steadily worked on his batting and wicket-keeping skills, which were criticized before his return to the side in 2019.

Pant, now the nation's leading keeper-batsman, is finding stiff competition from Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, and the evergreen Dinesh Karthik, who are all eyeing the coveted spot.

Speaking on the SG podcast, the left-hander opened up about his style of play and whether he considers himself a pure keeper or batter.

"I'm just trying to give my hundred per cent each and every day, but I think I was always a wicketkeeper-batsman. Because as a kid, I started doing wicket-keeping, my father was a wicket-keeper too that's how I started doing wicket keeping," explained Pant.

Pant had a poor outing with the Delhi Capitals (DC) in the Indian Premier League, finishing fifth in the points table. With the bat, he managed just 340 runs in 14 games.

The 24-year-old gave insights about what qualities it takes to stay on top of his game.

"One quality would be you keep yourself agile because in keeping you do it in a different type of conditions. So, if you're agile enough, I think that's going to help in keeping. The second thing, watch the ball till the end. So sometimes, what happens as a wicket-keeper, is we tend to know that the ball is coming, and we just get relaxed. So till the time you catch the ball, you should be watching it,"

"And the third one is to be disciplined and keep working on your techniques. As a kid, yes, everyone has different techniques, but at the same time, if you can come closer to the base, that is going to help everyone for a long period of time," concluded the Indian vice-captain.

Pant will be in action against South Africa, where he has been appointed as KL Rahul's deputy. The first match of the five-T20I series will be held in Delhi on June 9.