Record IPL signing and Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant has had a season to forget with LSG getting knocked out from the playoffs contention by Sunrisers Hyderabad on Monday. Pant, who has scored 134 runs in 12 games, never seemed to find his footing this season, striking at 100 with an average of 12.27.
“He would be the first one to say that he hasn’t had a season that he would have liked, but I know for myself personally that that’s the way cricket goes sometimes,” his teammate Mitchell Marsh, who has tallied 443 runs so far with five half-centuries told reporters after the match vs SRH.
“We know that he’s a fantastic player, highly skilled and highly talented, so he will be back, but yeah, hopefully the last two games,” he added.
On asked about the positives of the season, the Australian said that the team would focus on that after their two remaining matches.
“I think the time for reflection is probably after the season and for me personally just focus on trying to contribute to winning the next two games for our team and for our franchise. Like I said, the IPL is a beast of a tournament and the margins are really small. We lost a couple of close games throughout the season that now have come back to bite us, but yeah, it’s all about finishing off the season as strong as we possibly can now,” he said.
Meanwhile, former India cricketer Aakash Chopra also believes that Pant will need to reassess his approach in T20 cricket after enduring a “nightmare” IPL season.
“Success might teach you a few things. Failures, however, truly change your mindset — and often for good. He isn’t a regular in the Indian T20 side, so this season was crucial. A chance to make a mark, to build a strong unit,” Chopra, a former India opener, told ‘JioHotstar’.
“It hasn’t gone that way. His own form has been inconsistent — another lesson in itself. Does he stick to this approach in T20s or adapt? “When you’re in a bad patch, it feels like nothing works. The nights seem longer, the days even more so. That’s when you learn — and bounce back. This has been a nightmare. The good thing about nightmares is that you eventually wake up,” Chopra said.
(With agency inputs)
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