Picture Credit: IPL/X
Star India wicketkeeper-batter, Rishabh Pant hasn’t had a memorable season thus far in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. After getting picked up by the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for a record sum of INR 27 Crore, Pant has just amassed 128 runs after playing 129 balls in nine matches in IPL 2025. Seeing his dismal run of form, former Indian cricketers have thrown light on Pant’s struggles as the ongoing edition of the cash-rich league as the tournament stands still.
Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa also shared his views on Pant, who has failed to make an impact with his bat, which has more of less impacted LSG’s result in the tournament. Speaking with Star Sports, Uthappa stated that Pant seems to be in confusion and lacks clarity, which has been seen in his batting. "The batter in Rishabh Pant is lost in confusion," Uthappa said. "There's a serious lack of clarity. The game where he didn't bat and promoted Abdul Samad ahead of himself showed he had no idea what his role was. He needs the dust to settle - nothing's working for him right now," he further added.
Moreover, the former India all-rounder also added that Pant’s best position to bat at is number three and if given a chance, he could make an impact. "Even when India won the World Cup in 2024, Pant batted at No. 3. That's his zone. Just come out and smash. Even against CSK this season, he seemed to enjoy taking the bowling on," Uthappa had added.
Sanjay Bangar analyses Rishabh Pant’s batting technique in IPL 2025
Uthappa wasn’t the only one who felt the same as former India cricketer Sanjay Bangar also highlighted Pant’s batting technique in the tournament. "We have to recognise that he's still yet to totally understand the white-ball game - both formats, 50-over cricket as well as T20 cricket. A fabulous Test match batter, make no mistake about it, but here in this particular season, what I noticed is that he got out a number of times looking to play shots behind the wicket," Bangar said on Star Sports.
"Now, you pull out the best innings of Rishabh - where has he looked to score the runs? Drives through covers, step down the track and try to hit the sightscreen or go over midwicket, square. But here he was trying to play those reverse sweeps or shots that are very fine. So as a batter, I think probably he just got caught in that confusion and forgot that his best game, or that he plays at his best, is when he's looking to score down the ground," the 52-year-old added.
With the IPL 2025 getting suspended for a week, everyone will hope that the star Indian wicketkeeper-batter and the LSG captain returns to his prime form, seeing LSG still alive in the competition to make into the playoffs. Speaking of the franchise, LSG currently sit at the seventh place with five wins and six losses from 11 games. They still have three matches left in the league stage and a win in each of them will take them to 16 points.
