Lucknow Super Giants’ Pricey Rishabh Pant Plight: Rs 27 Crore Down The Drain? | Cricket News-OxBig News Network

Rishabh Pant, the person who turned the most recent poster boy of the Indian Premier League (IPL), because the mega public sale concluded in November final 12 months. But, little did the followers of cricket’s richest league know that spending a ‘record-breaking’ price of Rs 27 crore would grow to be one of many largest causes behind Lucknow Super Giants’ early elimination from the T20 league. Pant shattered all information because the Sanjiv Goenka-led franchise splashed an eye-watering sum to avail the wicket-keeper batter’s companies. Cometh the 18th version of the IPL, the administration even determined handy over the captaincy tasks to Pant.

No Confidence, No Clarity

In the 12 matches that LSG have performed to this point this season, Pant has had the chance to bat in 11. Barring a solitary half-century within the match towards the Chennai Super Kings, which too got here in a dropping trigger, Pant could not even cross the 25-run mark within the different 10 video games. 

Pant made fairly just a few weird choices over the course of 11 outings for LSG this season, one among which noticed him even come out to bat on the No. 7 spot. The outcome was a Golden Duck, which was adopted by an incessant movement of trolling on social media.

In the match towards the Sunrisers, Pant made the daring name of demoting Nicholas Pooran, arguably the group’s most fearsome hitter, by one spot to play himself on the No. 3 place. Even this stunt did not produce the outcomes the skipper needed, as he was dismissed with out even getting right into a double-digit rating. 

Some dressing room scenes even hinted at a battle between the group’s assist employees and the skipper over sure on-field choices. Confusion and a scarcity of readability over the affairs of the group might be clearly seen.

Rishabh Pant’s IPL 2025 Stats (after 12 matches):

• Matches Played: 12
• Innings: 12
• Not Outs: 0
• Runs Scored: 135
• Highest Score: 63
• Batting Average: 12.27 (as per picture)
• Balls Faced: 135 (as per picture)
• Strike Rate: 100.00 (as per picture)
• Centuries: 0
• Half-Centuries: 1
• Fours: 12
• Sixes: 6
• Catches: 5
• Stumpings: 1

Rishabh Pant In IPL 2025 (Match-By-Match):

1. vs. Delhi Capitals: 0 (6 balls)
2. vs. Sunrisers Hyderabad: 15 (15 balls)
3. vs. Punjab Kings: 2 (5 balls)
4. vs. Punjab Kings: 2 (6 balls)
5. vs. Kolkata Knight Riders (DNP)
6. vs. Mumbai Indians: 21 (18 balls)
7. vs. Chennai Super Kings: 63 (49 balls)
8. vs. Rajasthan Royals: 3 (9 balls)
9. vs. Delhi Capitals: 0 (2 balls)
10. vs. Mumbai Indians: 4 (2 balls)
11. vs. Punjab Kings: 18 (17 balls)
12. vs. Sunrisers Hyderabad (May 19): 7 (6 balls)

Team Balance Ignored

Tom Moody, an IPL-winner with the Sunrisers Hyderabad, feels the truth that LSG spent a mixed sum of Rs 48 crore on the duo of Rishabh Pant and Nicholas Pooran performed a major function within the group’s incapability to construct a powerful bowling assault. The stability of the group, skewed within the course of, was hit considerably.

“The expense on Rishabh Pant and Nicholas Pooran, these two gamers, makes it very onerous to construct a really robust bowling unit. Because you simply do not have the funds to compete on the public sale desk,” Moody stated in a panel dialogue on ESPNCricinfo.

“In a perfect world, it is nice to have Pooran, (David) Miller, (Mitchell) Marsh, Pant… all these are impactful batters, however on the finish of the day, you want to bowl. You’ve obtained to have the ability to have an impactful bowling unit in powerplays. Be adaptable within the center overs and take wickets, and squeeze the opposition. And within the back-end of the innings, you want folks to shut the sport below stress – take wickets, bowl these actually difficult overs when the opposition goes hell-for-leather towards you. And I simply do not assume they have any of that.”

The core tasks of a administration are to construct a balanced squad that’s able to performing as a unit, not simply individually. As the LSG administration put its head into public sale preparations, the stability was basically ignored.

Having already spent Rs 21 crore for Pooran, Lucknow should not have gone so far as Rs 27 crore for Pant. But, the bosses gave in to the lure of signing arguably probably the most coveted Indian participant available in the market. 

Rs 27 Crore Down The Drain?

Though cash spent would not instantly rework into performances, a participant of Pant’s calibre was anticipated to ship much more than he has. The method through which the 2025 season has ended for LSG would not increase query marks over the franchise’s plans for the following 12 months, particularly the truth that the bosses have Pant of their plans or not.