Rishabh Pant reveals MS Dhoni's priceless advice to him

The Indian wicket-keeper batter, Rishabh Pant, has revealed the advice of their former captain, MS Dhoni, who told the youngster to pay attention on the bigger goal rather than rushing behind the small success of two-three years. He recently featured in the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka.

Pant will be leading the Rest of the India XI for the upcoming Irani Cup 2026 against the Jammu and Kashmir while the middle order batter, Sarfaraz Khan, has named as the vice-captain of the side. That was perhaps why he wasn’t named in the India A side to take on Australia A.

Rishabh Pant opened up on the priceless piece of advice MS Dhoni

During a recent interaction on the podcast, Pant opened on how MS Dhoni suggested him to look ahead at the bigger picture of his career all the time and never get satisfied with the success of just one opr two years.

Watch Pant revealing Dhoni's advice here-

“Mahi bhai- Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He told me one thing like you want to have success for one to two years, or you want to make career for 15-20 years in life; it’s up to you. So, and I think, that stuck with me, and since then, you know, as a kid, I have never thought about what is the shortcoming and always work on the bigger goal.” Pant expressed in the recent interaction.

Pant and Dhoni have shared a very close bond even in the field. They took pictures during the ODI and T20I series in England for the Indian side while Pant practiced in Ranchi ahead of their Sri Lanka trip.

Pant gears up for the Irani Cup 2026 against Jammu and Kashmir

Pant will captain the Rest of the India side in the Irani Cup against the Ranji Trophy 2025/26 winners, the Jammu and Kashmir, which will be played on October 01 in Srinagar. The selectors have handed positions to last year's Ranji performers, with the season's best batters- R Smaran (950 runs), Ayush Doseja (949), Sanat Sangwan (828) and Sudip Kumar Gharami (797) all named in the 15-member squad.

India's Pant will also keep wickets, with Aryan Juyal being placed as the back-up wicketkeeper. Shikhar Mohan, who scored 85 and 52 in the Duleep Trophy 2026 final has been also included.

Rest of India squad for Irani Cup 2026 final-

Rishabh Pant (captain, wk), Sanat Sangwan, Shikhar Mohan, Sudip Gharami, Sarfaraz Khan (vice-captain), R Smaran, Manav Suthar, Saransh Jain, Akash Deep*, Mukesh Kumar, Mukesh Choudhary, Aryan Juyal (wk), Aryan Pandey, Anukul Roy, Ayush Doseja