IPL 2025: Rishabh Pant’s in a knot!

It seems the recent spate of poor scores has affected Rishabh Pant’s confidence both as a batter and as the captain of Lucknow Super Giants this season. That was quite evident in their eight-wicket defeat to Delhi Capitals here on Tuesday. 

Dropped himself to No. 7

It was rather bizarre that he dropped himself down the batting order to No. 7 and some of the tactics he used in the game defied logic. The decision to send Abdul Samad ahead of himself and Ayush Badoni, and using Badoni as an Impact player, thus closing the door on a fit-again Mayank Yadav to be used as an Impact bowler when DC were chasing has left the experts scratching their heads. Of course, the decisions must have been taken in consultation with mentor Zaheer Khan and chief coach Justin Langer, but it’s Pant the skipper who has to face the flak.

Also Read: Watson praises DC skipper Axar’s leadership

Also, the comments made by the skipper after the humbling defeat are baffling. At the post-match presentation, he said, “We have to figure out our best combination,” which is a strange assessment after the team has already played nine of the 14 games this season. Moreover, his logic of saying that Badoni was used as an Impact Player to give fast bowler Mayank Yadav a chance to make a late appearance in the match was illogical as once Badoni was used as an Impact Player while batting, there was no scope to use another person as an Impact Player in that match.

Pant defended his team’s poor show by saying that the toss played a huge part in the outcome, and that they were 20 runs short after being asked to bat. “We were 20 runs short. The toss also played a huge part [as] whoever is bowling first gets a lot of help from the [red soil] wicket. We just couldn’t get away [from the tight bowling]. It always happens in Lucknow, the wicket becomes better in the second innings.  [But] we can’t make excuses and have to learn from it.”

Badoni in as Impact Player

On the use of Badoni as an Impact Player and demoting himself to No. 7, he said, “We are using Ayush as an Impact Player to try and give Mayank some game time early in the season, trying to fit him in, since he’s just come from NCA [after rehabilitation]. We sent hard-hitter Abdul Samad up the order before me to capitalise on the good start provided by Mitch Marsh and Aiden Markram. However, we got stuck on that [type of] wicket and even when [David] Miller came in, he could not get going. All I can say is we need to figure out our best combination.”

Things have gone downhill for Pant ever since he was picked for a record price of Rs 27 crore by LSG, while his Team India wicket-keeper-batter rival KL Rahul’s graph has risen dramatically ever since he quit LSG. Both were part of the Indian team that won the ICC Champions Trophy in Dubai earlier this year. Pant was supposed to be India’s first-choice wicketkeeper, but it was Rahul who got the nod and ultimately shone through with some excellent performances both behind and in front of the stumps, while Pant could only warm the benches. In the IPL game on Tuesday, it was the same story, with Rahul emerging the hero in DC’s win, while Pant hit the nadir, both as batter and LSG skipper. There is little doubt that being relieved of captaincy has helped Rahul bat and keep wickets like he used to in his early days, while the pressure of leadership and the record price tag have taken a heavy toll on Pant’s performance in the ongoing IPL.

0, 15, 2, 2, 21, 63, 3, 0
LSG skipper Rishabh Pant’s scores so far in IPL-18