Rishabh Pant hails Dhoni as 'hero of the country'

Indian wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant, who took a record 11 catches in the first Test of the ongoing four-match series against Australia, believes that his predecessor and former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the "hero of the country".

The 21-year-old said that as a wicket-keeper and player, Dhoni taught him to be patient under pressure, adding that whenever the former skipper is around, he feels more confident.

"He (Dhoni) is the hero of the country. I've learnt a lot from him as a person and as a cricketer as well. Whenever he's around, I feel more confident as a person. If I've got any problems I can share it with him and get a solution right away," Cricket.com.au quoted Pant, as saying.

"As a wicketkeeper and a player (he's taught me) to be patient in pressure situations like this (in Adelaide). You have to keep calm and keep composed and try to give 100 per cent,' he added.

Pant's figures of 11 catches in the Adelaide Test are the highest by any Indian in a Test match, but the left-hand batsman said that though he is happy to have achieved the milestone, he does not devote too much time thinking about such things.

"I never thought of the record but it's good to take some catches and put it inside my kitty. It's good to have milestones, but I'm not thinking about that too much," he said.

Pant joined the likes of England's Jack Russell and South Africa's AB de Villiers in sharing the all-time record of 11 catches in a Test while overtaking England's Bob Taylor, Australia's Adam Gilchrist, and India's Wriddhiman Saha, who all took 10 catches in a match.