IPL 2025: Rishabh Pant falters with the bat but shines as LSG captain — what’s behind his leadership success?
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) were 170/2 in 15.2 overs against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) when Abdul Samad walked ahead of Rishabh Pant at number four. That was a sign of the LSG captain going through a self-introspection about his batting form. He hasn’t yet hit full throttle with the bat this season.
Pant appears to be playing two roles in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. With the bat, he is going through a poor season so far. But once he gets his troop on the field as the LSG skipper, his decisions in bowling changes and field placements have been spot on.
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Rishabh Pant struggles to find batting rhythm
When Lucknow signed the wicket-keeper batter for a record price of 27 crore INR, they anticipated him to repeat his signature aggressive performances. But the very first game was an example of the southpaw not being in the right frame of mind with the bat in hand.
He sat out of India’s side for the last two months during the home ODI series and the Champions Trophy. Undoubtedly, he was trying to find the momentum.
Pant couldn’t open his IPL 2025 account in the first five balls before finding the long-off fielder against Delhi Capitals. Even on a good batting surface, he made 15 runs at run-a-ball against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Against Punjab Kings, he found Yuzvendra Chahal at short fine-leg for two runs in five balls.
Mitchell Marsh’s absence opened the opportunity for the Uttarakhand-born to open the innings in the 181-run chase against Gujarat Titans. That was only the fifth time he opened in the league, with the previous four instances coming in 2016 (his debut season). But still, the battle continued.
The left-handed batter ended with 21 runs in 18 balls in a 65-run opening stand. In those 21 runs, he nailed four boundaries, which shows how hard it has been for him to rotate the strike. In five innings so far this season, the veteran has collected 40 runs at a strike rate of 80. Going forward, LSG need their leader to be more productive with the willow.
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SUNIL GAVASKAR ABOUT RISHABH PANT:
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) April 4, 2025
"He might not be scoring runs, but he's worth his weight in Gold as a captain". pic.twitter.com/EuwdHeG88R
Rishabh Pant’s fabulous captaincy
Lucknow are operating with a young bowling unit in the 18th edition of the tournament. In addition, they missed their first-choice bowlers at the beginning of the tournament. Avesh Khan and Akash Deep missed the first few games due to injury. They are still without their retained pacer, Mayank Yadav. That’s where Rishabh Pant’s contribution comes into the equation. He has maneuvered the bowling changes wisely.
The management replaced injured Mohsin Khan with Shardul Thakur ahead of the season. And the Mumbai all-rounder was given the responsibility of opening the bowling for the side. He is currently the second leading wicket-taker in IPL 2025 with 11 scalps in six innings.
Pant has used Dignesh Rathi in various phases of the innings. Against the Mumbai Indians, the spinner returned with figures of 1/21 in four overs, including a crucial 18th over. The Gujarat Titans were on their way to cross the 200-run mark, but the LSG captain used Ravi Bishnoi to pick two wickets in the same over. That broke the Titans’ momentum and restricted them to 180.
Pant’s field placements have been quite extraordinary this season. He has put the right fielders in the right position. During the game against Mumbai, Bishnoi grabbed a couple of catches at the same position. Most of his field placements are unconventional, pushing the batters to think before going for the shots.
Following the cracking victory over the 2022 champions, Lucknow were promoted to the third position with a net run-rate of +0.162. They need to continue the excellent all-round performance in the second half of the tournament. And, the onus will be on their captain Rishabh Pant.
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