Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif criticized Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant for not being clear about his batting position.
Mohammad Kaif Criticizes Pant’s Unclear Batting Role
Kaif said that Pant’s poor batting was one of the main reasons for Lucknow’s disappointing performance in IPL 2025.
Rishabh Pant had an inconsistent batting position throughout IPL 2025, coming in at various spots from the top order to the middle order, but none of them worked out for him this season.
Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif pointed out this issue, saying Pant needs to fix his batting position to bring stability.
“If you have to prepare for next year, you have to decide your batting number as a captain. It should remain the same from the first to the last match, and it shouldn’t change. Whether you want to play at No. 3 or No. 4, you should build the team around that and play players accordingly,” Kaif said on Star Sports.
He also criticized Pant for not stepping up when the team needed him most, suggesting he was too focused on other responsibilities.
“However, now I saw him not coming to bat at times, and trying to do almost the entire job as a captain on other occasions. Then you feel that he doesn’t know his own role as a captain. A year can go bad, many people go out of form, but the learning is that you should stick to one number,” the former India batter added.
Pant struggled with the bat this season, scoring just 135 runs in 12 matches at an average of 12.27. Despite trying multiple batting positions, he couldn’t find form in IPL 2025.
After their defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad last night, Lucknow Super Giants were officially knocked out of IPL 2025. LSG still had a slim chance of qualifying before the match, but they failed to defend a 200-run target.
Pant Reflects on Season, Praises Young Talent
Reflecting on the season, skipper Rishabh Pant remained optimistic despite the disappointing result.
“The way we planned the auction, if we would have had the same bowling… but this is cricket, sometimes things go your way and sometimes they don’t, we take pride in the way we played and take the positives from the season rather than the negative side,” Pant said during the post-match presentation.
Pant also praised young pacer Digvesh Rathi for his impressive debut season, calling him the biggest positive for LSG this year.
Many experts criticised Rishabh Pant for his poor performance in IPL 2025. He managed to score only one half-century in 12 matches.
Some experts even suggested that Pant should take a break from cricket. Others questioned why his batting position kept changing throughout the season.
Pant was the most expensive player in IPL history, but he failed to live up to expectations and didn’t deliver any match-winning performances.
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