Pant on his form: Not right to question an individual every time

Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant has said that singling out his poor batting form in IPL 2025 is "not the right thing to do," after his team suffered their third loss in four games against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.

Pant was dismissed playing a reverse sweep for 4 off 2 balls in a chase of 215, as LSG slumped to a 54-run defeat. He now has 110 runs in nine innings this season, with an average of 12.22 and strike rate of 98.21. He's opened the batting, he's batted at No. 4 and at No. 7 without success.

"See [I am] keeping it very simple," Pant said after the game. "Not thinking about that [his form] too much because in a season like this, where things are not going your way, you're going to start questioning yourself as a player and that is something you don't want to do.

"When the team isn't doing well, you've got to think about that because eventually it's a team game. Yes, one player definitely makes a difference, but every time if you take out the individual, it's not the right thing to do, I guess."

LSG's mentor Zaheer Khan said Pant had "ticked all the boxes as a leader" and is confident that he will find his batting form soon. "He's a leader and he's been fantastic as a leader," Zaheer said. "That's something which I can vouch for. The kind of efforts he's been taking to make sure that each individual in that group is comfortable, is heard, and the planning to do everything which goes around in IPL, he's being spot on.

"As a batter… the middle order is dependent on Rishabh. And I'm very confident that the impact, which we want from him, will come. It's just about something clicking. So I wouldn't relate it to pressure.

"When you're talking about a team, you're talking about winning the tournament, you're talking about winning the trophy. We've identified Rishabh as that leader who is going to take this team forward. There is no doubt about that."

In each of his previous three innings, Pant has fallen trying to play the reverse sweep or lap, twice to a spinner and once to a fast bowler (Delhi Capitals' Mukesh Kumar). Speaking on ESPNcricinfo's TimeOut, Sanjay Bangar and Wasim Jaffer said he could be trying to do too much.

"When he's batting well, he's looking to hit a lot straighter. That way you also give yourself a chance to succeed," Bangar said. "But some of the dismissals that have been seen so far in the season have been all him trying to play behind the wicket, maybe the reverse lap or the sweep in some instances.

"I think for a batsman to succeed, and if somebody's in that sort of a rut, you play percentages as well. So, try and hit straighter down the ground rather than target those areas behind the wicket."

Jaffer said Pant needed to trust his game in front of the wicket a lot more. "He plays some outrageous shots, and when it doesn't come off, it looks bad," he said. "I think he needs to trust his game just more in front of the wicket. I think he doesn't do that, and the teams have found a way to bowl to him. They bowl outside off stump, which is not his strongest suit, and then that's why that reverse lap comes in, and then anything that pitches on the stump, he looks to go here [behind the wicket] rather than going towards cow corner or midwicket."

Pant was bought for a record INR 27 crore at the IPL 2025 auction by LSG, making him the most expensive player in the league's history. Former India captain, Anil Kumble feels the price tag and expectations as a batter and captain are weighing Pant down.

"There's a lot of expectations on him as a captain, as a leader and he was bought at the maximum price at the auction. All of these are probably going through his mind"Anil Kumble on Rishabh Pant

"Rishabh Pant needs to just realise that if he bats normally, he will score at a faster pace. Then once he gets into that groove, he can dictate the term[s]," Kumble said. "Maybe he's trying too hard to prove to everyone that, look, I can do this in this format. Sometimes that's counterproductive. You just need to relax, back yourself, believe that [you can do it], just go out there and then watch the ball. Maybe that's something that he's not doing.

"When you have all these thoughts in your head, especially now that he's captain in a franchise where it's not been easy for KL Rahul, who was former captain, they haven't won a championship. It's a new franchise.

"There's a lot of expectations on him as a captain, as a leader and he was bought at the maximum price at the auction. All of these are probably going through his mind, and the last thing that you want is all of this. You want to shut all of that out, focus on the white ball that's coming out at him, and that's all he needs to do."