Everything is not going right for Rishabh Pant and the Lucknow Super Giants. After last night’s loss, their chances of qualifying for the playoffs seem very low. The pressure of the high price tag and captaincy has directly affected the talented left-hander’s batting. Former Australia captain Aaron Finch has made a bold statement after multiple poor performances from Pant.
Finch has been part of the commentary team for the past few years. He offered a piece of advice to Pant, suggesting that he should hand over the wicketkeeping duties to Nicholas Pooran. The former Australia captain explained the reasoning behind it, saying that by doing so, Pant would have more time to communicate with the bowlers. The stop-clock rule states that the fielding team must start a new over within 60 seconds of the previous one.
He also said that it must be really difficult for a wicketkeeper to captain a side. Finch gave examples of Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill, highlighting how they were able to communicate constantly with their bowlers. The former Aussie captain felt that Pooran could be the bridge between Pant and the bowlers and that the LSG camp should hand over the wicketkeeping role to him.
Finch believed that the reason behind Pant’s anger was his inability to communicate with his bowler. Clear frustration was visible on his face when PBKS batter Prabhsimran Singh smashed 26 runs in Avesh Khan’s over. Pant’s batting form hasn’t been great either; he has scored just 128 runs in 11 matches, with a strike rate below 100. LSG’s next match is against RCB, and he must regain his form for the team to have any chance of qualifying for the playoffs.
Former World Cup-winning captain Adam Gilchrist makes bold comment about Rishabh Pant
Adam Gilchrist felt that Pant was being his natural self. Additionally, the former PBKS captain believed that Pant was struggling to perform due to the price tag attached to his name. Under Pant’s leadership, Lucknow are currently 7th on the points table with 11 points from 10 games. One more loss and they could be eliminated from the playoff race.
Meanwhile, Gilly said that Pant wasn’t smiling and just didn’t seem like himself. Moreover, he stated that the 27-year-old had lost his spark this season and emphasized the importance of maintaining a balance between stroke play and shot selection. The legendary wicketkeeper added that Pant should enjoy his cricket more.
Gilchrist also made some critical remarks about Pant’s batting. He said that he didn’t see Pant showing his true personality and described his batting as carefree. In the last match, Pant scored just 18 runs off 17 balls, which contributed to LSG losing the game by 37 runs against PBKS. The situation needs to change quickly for Lucknow to qualify.
