Robin Bist dreams of donning India colours

NEW DELHI: After a dream domestic season with the bat, Rajasthan's Ranji Trophy hero Robin Bist is on a mission: to make himself good enough to represent the country. "I have to look to score more and more runs. I have to keep performing," he told TOI.
With the Indian Premier League (IPL) offering an immediate platform to impress selectors, Bist -- who will be playing for Delhi Daredevils -- is spending at least four hours a day batting in the nets at the Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan cricket academy under the watchful eyes of long-time coach Rakesh Rai.
"I am really grateful to my coach Rakesh sir and Hrishikesh Kanitkar for making me what I am today. Even my family and friends played a huge role," he said. Bist is also devoting a couple of hours a day to his fitness drills. In his book, Bist says, there is no shortcut to success. "The kind of hard work we do on the field during a match, our effort should be to replicate the same work ethic in the nets."
The recent compliment from Sunil Gavaskar, who had written in one of his columns that Bist should play for India, has lifted his spirits. "That was my biggest compliment," says Bist, who hopes to surprise those who think he is not cut out for the shorter versions of the game.
Bist, whose favourite shots are the straight drive and pull, says he is timing the ball as well as he ever has. He can also be a patient customer. His 167 against Railways in this year's Ranji Trophy tie at the Karnail Singh stadium spanned 10 hours and 450 balls. "It was quite satisfying to play such a knock, but as I said that is gone and now the focus is to do well in upcoming matches."
With the Indian cricket board on the verge organising more India-A tours, Bist is expecting to get some international exposure after having proven himself as a domestic run machine. Asked who the fastest bowler in domestic cricket was, he said, "It has to be Ashok Dinda and Shami Ahmed from Bengal. The best spinners are Pragyan Ojha and Piyush Chawla."