India cricketers Suresh Raina and Rishabh Pant have started training together amid the coronavirus pandemic, after being forced away from the field for months due to the lockdown. Speaking about his fellow left-handed batsman, Raina was full of praise and said he hoped that Pant would live up to his potential and make his fans proud. Raina called Pant a “top guy” and hailed the wicketkeeper-batsman for scoring runs in the domestic circuit as well as for the national team.

Raina’s Indian Premier League (IPL) team, Chennai Super Kings, took to Instagram to share snippets of his and Pant’s net session.

“He’s amazing. He’s a top guy and I want him to be who he is. He has been performing, scoring lot of runs for Delhi and of course for the Indian team,” Raina told presenter Rupha Ramani in the video shared by CSK, while talking about Pant.

“I just want him to be the best batsman for his calibre and I hope he will make you all proud,” Raina added.

Pant credited Raina for guiding him, and spoke about their special bonds as left-handed batsmen.

“It’s been a good experience, because with him you can learn a lot of things,” Pant said on training with Raina.

“Especially with a leftie batsman, you’ve got that brotherhood together,” he added.

“He teaches me a lot of things, on and off-the-field experiences, like how I can approach a situation. We discuss a lot of things and it is helping me right now,” the wicketkeeper-batsman said.

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Asked if he is missing interacting with former India captain MS Dhoni, Pant said that their interactions were always short, but meaningful.

“With Mahi bhai the interaction is always a little bit, but very intense. So, we keep it that way that whenever we talk, we talk intense, because the lengthy sessions don’t make me feel right, so I just like to talk about small things, grab it and then move on to other things,” Pant said.