Poor form can sometimes force you to make decisions that don’t really make sense. Rishabh Pant has been bad in IPL 2025, and has been gasping for some runs under his belt. Five matches have only fetched 19 runs for the Lucknow Super Giants skipper, and he looks woefully out of sorts. Even though his team has been decent with two wins in four completed matches so far, but then.. he has been kept quiet.
Poor Rishabh Pant Struggling in IPL 2025
The KKR vs LSG clash presented with a perfect opportunity for him to get back to form though. After opposition skipper Ajinkya Rahane invited LSG to bat first, Aiden Markram (47) and Mitchell Marsh (81) gave a rousing start to the visiting team by scoring 99 in just 10.1 overs. And post that, Nicholas Pooran just took over and slammed 87 from 36 to end with 238 in 20 overs.
But what was surprising is, when Marsh fell in the 16th over, it wasn’t Rishabh Pant who came on to bat — with 170 runs on the board — but instead the skipper demoted himself and sent hard-hitting Abdul Samad. Pooran and Samad added over 50, and when the latter fell, he promoted David Miller too.
Promotes Abdul Samad & David Miller in Batting Order
There are two ways to perceive this move — first, it was a masterstroke by Pant, to let the momentum not break and let the in-from batters continue, or, maybe somewhere it just shows the lack of confidence he is suffering from. LSG were cruising in that period, and it certainly needed for an in-form man to take over. So, it could be both together. Fortunately for Rishabh Pant and his team, his top order has been firing, barring him.
He always has the option of falling back on players like Markram, Marsh, Pooran and Miller. The 27-year-old has been struggling to get some runs for really, really long. Even before the IPL, in the only Ranji Trophy match he played, he made 1 & 17 for Delhi. Then in the India vs Australia series, he had a top score of 61 and averaged 28.
So, In hindsight, for team’s cause, what Rishabh Pant did was right, but had he come on to bat in his regular No. 4 position, he would have given a chance to himself, on a good batting deck, to get going, and score some runs before the business end of IPL 2025 approaches. Nonetheless, given his quality, he is bound to bounce back at some point.
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