Lucknow Super Giants’ captain, Rishabh Pant, addressed his decision to bat at No. 7 following their eight-wicket loss to Delhi Capitals at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in IPL 2025. The decision to delay Pant’s batting surprised many, including former cricketer Shane Watson, who was left baffled during commentary.
Batting order surprise
In the match, Abdul Samad, David Miller, and Ayush Badoni all batted before Pant. Fans speculated about a potential injury when they saw Pant’s hand bandaged, but he came out to bat only to be dismissed for a duck after facing just two balls. Shane Watson expressed his surprise during commentary, saying, “I am gobsmacked, bewildered, and whatnot. Whatever word you want to use. I cannot make sense of why Rishabh Pant is not here batting.”
Pant’s explanation
Post-match, Pant explained his decision, saying, “The idea was to like capitalise, we sent someone to capitalise on a wicket like that. After that, Miller came in, and we just really got stuck in the wicket, but eventually, you know, these are the things we got to figure out and try to find our best combination going forward.”
Strategy with Mayank Yadav
Even though Lucknow has listed pacer Mayank Yadav for two games, he has not played yet. Pant explained that the decision to use Ayush Badoni was partly to give Mayank some time to adjust, as he recently joined the team after clearance from the National Cricket Academy. Pant said, “Definitely, that is one idea why we are impacting Ayush to get Mayank some game time, just trying to find ways to get him early in the season because it’s already halfway around, and he came from NCA now, so just trying to fit him in.”
Reflections on the Match Outcome
Delhi Capitals won the toss, opted to bowl, and then successfully chased the target of 160 set by LSG in the 18th over. Pant acknowledged that the team fell short by about 20 runs, highlighting the impact of the toss. He noted, “We knew we were like 20 runs short. Toss played a huge part because whosoever is bowling first, they get a lot of help from the wicket…It always happens in Lucknow, in the second innings, the wickets become better and better to bat on.” Despite the setback, Pant talks about tthe team’s focus on learning from the experience rather than making excuses.
