He has managed to score only 128 runs in 11 matches so far.
Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batter Ambati Rayudu has taken a dig at the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) skipper Rishabh Pant for deliberately not changing his batting approach, despite multiple failures in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.
“I think, at this point in time, I’m feeling very sorry for him because he’s not been changing his batting order or his approach. I think he’s being pretty stubborn about how he wants to go about things. It’s not working in his favour at the moment,” he stressed on ESPN Cricinfo Time Out.
The former CSK player hoped for a crucial comeback from Pant. He suggested that the 27-year-old should accept his current situation and try different things in his game to overcome the rough patch.
“It happens in this sport, to be very honest, and he is going through a very, very bad patch. It can happen to anybody. I just hope that he takes this learning and improves on it and doesn’t become even more stubborn, but just accept the fact that he is struggling and start doing things a little differently [and] try and get better every day. That’s all you can do,” he said.
Moreover, the 39-year-old advised Pant to change his batting position and play as an opener instead of coming in at the middle-order in white-ball formats.
“I think more than anything it’s just the clarity of what he wants to do because Pant ideally for me is an opener in white-ball cricket, because in the middle order, he has not been great. I know he loves playing in the middle but he doesn’t have the batsmanship that is required or the skill set. Maybe he has the skillset, but not the mindset to execute that,” Rayudu opined.
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The southpaw has faced severe hardships and challenges in the IPL 2025. LSG bought him by spending a whopping amount of INR 27 crores and also handed him the leadership. However, Pant has managed to score only 128 runs in 11 matches so far.
Last night, he also got dismissed cheaply against the Punjab Kings. While whacking a full-length delivery off Azmatullah Omarzai in the eighth over, his bat slipped out of his hand. Shashank Singh caught the catch at deep point to dismiss him for just 18 runs off 17 balls. Notably, LSG lost the match by 37 runs.
Pant has crossed the 30-run mark only once this season when he took on CSK bowlers to score 63 runs off 49 balls. His team, LSG, has also endured a similar kind of form in this edition.
With six losses in 11 matches, they are currently placed seventh in the points table. The Giants will need to win all of their remaining three matches to qualify for the IPL 2025 playoffs. They will next square off against the table-topper Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Ekana Stadium on May 9.
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