Saying Rishabh Pant had a bad Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 would be an understatement. But knowing Test time has arrived with the England tour around the corner, the ‘old’ Pant has arrived as well. The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) couldn’t buy a run for a long period.
Couldn’t buy a run
After 13 matches, Pant had scored just 151 runs. Yes, that’s the type of season he was having. At one point, the wicketkeeper was rated one of the four worst batters in the IPL as far as impact goes. A fifty against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) did give hope to LSG and his admirers but he returned back to struggling.
Well, in the last league stage match of IPL 2025, Pant has scored his second fifty as LSG captain. And what timing. While success in T20 cricket doesn’t necessarily translate to Test cricket, confidence does. Pant’s stinker of a season meant that he wasn’t even trusting himself. He pushed himself to number seven in one game.
Form back before India vs England Tests
Against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), Pant decided to promote himself. He came into the middle in the 3rd over, ahead of Nicholas Pooran. And started by dispatching Yash Dayal. From there he never looked back. Pant had no issues in taking Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Suyash Sharma.
Unlike in the last innings, he didn’t look to play behind the wicket as often and relied on his power game, targeting the leg side predominantly. And it worked wonders. Pant reached his fifty in 29 balls. Mitchell Marsh, who’s already scored 600 runs for LSG, wasn’t scoring nearly as quickly for comparison.
2nd IPL hundred for Pant
Pant seems to be back to his best and just before the India vs England Test series. This fifty wasn’t a vindication for his poor season but perhaps a hundred could ease the pain slightly. And Pant did just that. Having reached his fifty in the 10th over, Pant had all the time to reach triple digits.
After punishing Suyash and Romario Shepherd some more, Pant reached his second IPL hundred from just 54 balls. The wicketkeeper had last hit a century in the league in 2018, and this one took another 7 years. But if there was a way to sign off from IPL 2025, Pant did it perfectly with a hundred. Now, we can expect some fireworks from him in England as well.
