Rishabh Pant's woes with the bat have reflected the decline of the Lucknow Super Giants as the IPL 2025 season is coming to a close.
The Indian wicket-keeper batter has appeared more and more agitated on the field and out of place at the crease in the latter part of the tournament. In their last game in Dharamsala, Pant's team was comprehensively outplayed by the Punjab Kings in a one-sided contest that further hurt their playoff hopes.
After being comfortably placed in the top four, LSG have now slipped to seventh position after three consecutive losses. Although their playoff aspirations still remain, they have an uphill battle ahead — having to win all the remaining games and hoping for other teams to slip up elsewhere.
Pant's own poor form has added to LSG's misery. His usually energetic and positive attitude has taken a backseat, replaced by visible signs of self-doubt, both in batting and captaincy. In 11 games, Pant has scored only 128 runs, and his strike rate has fallen below 100 — a far cry from his usual explosive nature.
Commenting on JioStar, ex-Australia captain Aaron Finch had a few words about Pant's issue, suggesting the LSG skipper could stay away from wicketkeeping for better on-field leadership. Finch spoke about how the growing pace of the game coupled with the use of the stop-clock rule has made life tougher for wicketkeeper-captains in being able to keep in touch with their bowlers.
"It is probably quite hard to lead a side when you are the wicketkeeper. The dialogue you have with your bowlers - you will likely get a couple of seconds. Clearly, there is a huge focus on the clock between the overs, but you may have 10, 15 seconds to discuss with your bowler between overs," Finch added.
He explained that in such situations, the job of conveying information tends to fall on a player such as Nicholas Pooran, who comes in to field in front of the stumps. This solution though can stifle definiteness and cohesiveness in planning.
"So then it's left to Nicholas Pooran, who's likely somewhere in front of the wicket, to then begin sending messages too. That can be quite hard - to actually stick to a plan - because the bowler's mind may change ball to ball, and so may Rishabh's. You can see just how animated and frustrated he is throughout," Finch said.
With the stop-clock regulation, which took effect in international cricket in 2024 and was implemented by the IPL the same year, fielding teams are required to start a new over within 60 seconds after the last one has ended. This followed the ICC's directive in 2022 that imposed penalties on teams for slow over-rates, including limitations on field positions in death overs.
Finch suggested that Pooran could take gloves temporarily, enabling Pant to field at mid-on or mid-off — areas where he can have better access to his bowlers and impact strategy.
"So, perhaps it's a chance where he's like, 'Right, Pooran, you just grab the gloves for a couple of games. I just need to find some rhythm, get some communication with my attack, so we can begin to plan and control our way through the twenties just that little bit better.' Because the communication breakdown when you're behind the stumps is absolutely, absolutely hard.".
"But the game has changed a little bit since then, I think. The game is much quicker now. One or two balls can turn the entire momentum of a game, so I think you do need that ongoing communication with your bowler. Shreyas Iyer is at mid-off, Shubman Gill is at mid-on - there are blokes there all the time," Finch said.
In the match against Punjab Kings, LSG conceded a hefty 236 runs and ultimately fell short by 37. Their bowling attack was dismantled, with Prabhsimran Singh leading a brutal assault. Young pace sensation Mayank Yadav, who recently returned from an injury, was taken for 60 runs in his four overs, while four out of five LSG bowlers recorded economy rates above 10.
Pant's growing frustration was evident as he enthusiastically responded to his bowlers' inability to implement plans. With their playoff hopes dangling on a thread, LSG will be eager for a turnaround performance when they play the table-toppers — also Lucknow Super Giants — at home on May 9.
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