What let LSG down? Rishabh Pant and pace bowlers

The costliest player ever at the auction, purchased for Rs 27 crore, his move from Delhi Capitals to Lucknow – with KL Rahul going the other way around and just touching distance from tallying 500 runs for the season – as a captain was bound to bring more scrutiny. From a franchise where he seemed tired of the constant juggle in the operations front, he was now in a set-up where his predecessor was pulled up by the team’s owner in full public view. As a captain as well, Pant was hardly an inspirational figure at Delhi Capitals.

T20 flaws

Beyond all these, there were questions about Pant’s credentials as a T20 batsman. While there is little doubt that the spot in India’s Test side is his, the same hasn’t been said in white-ball cricket. They haven’t been without reasons. Unpredictable and adventurous, his 360-degree range had everything in it to succeed in T20s. Last season, playing his first competitive fixture since the horrific accident, he scored 446 at a strike-rate of 150.40 to walk into India’s T20 World Cup squad.

That seems a long time ago now. In 11 innings this season, his scores read: 0, 15, 2, 2, 21, 63, 3, 0, 4, 18 and 7. A grand total of 135 runs at a strike-rate of 100. At the beginning, it appeared as if it was only a matter of time before he found the runs. A new franchise, pressure of being the expensive player, and headaches to solve as a captain, may all have weighed in. However, for Pant’s own bad, it only got worse since then with his decision-making on the field also under the spotlight. While there hasn’t been an alarming trend of dismissal to press panic button, that he has been reticent with his shot-making is enough to send worrying signs ahead of the big tour to England.

As former India captain Kris Srikkanth mentioned on his YouTube channel, it has been a season where Pant has found ways to get dismissed – a sign of a batsman not high on confidence. Pant in full song is as adventurous a batsman can get, who can make jaws drop with his shot selection alone. There is always an air of audacity when he is in flow, which has been clearly missing this IPL. “Unfortunately things are not going Pant’s way,” Srikkanth said. “Even with the bat, he can just play freely and be bold, but he seems to be playing half-hearted shots with no clarity. Every game he is finding new ways to get dismissed. During my playing days I used to invent ways to get dismissed and Pant is doing worse than me,” the former chairman of selectors lamented.

Given these struggles, it is pertinent to ask whether India’s team management and the selectors have erred in not sending Pant early to England. With India’s batting line-up going through a huge transition with the retirement of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, alongside KL Rahul, he is the most experienced batsman in English conditions. While he will definitely feature in the intra-squad match before the first Test, it is worth considering his inclusion for the second India A fixture. For, Pant’s struggles haven’t been limited to the IPL.

Even in the Australia tour, his first score of 40 or above came in the last innings of the five-Test tour, in Sydney. It meant, when the white-ball season began, he was pushed to the fringes and warmed the bench throughout the victorious Champions Trophy campaign. Unlike the ODI and T20s, where India have other options, in Tests India need Pant. Given this IPL, Pant needs Tests. It is one format where he has truly found value for his breathtaking batting, but given how unconventional the Bazballers can get with their field placements and how they like to play with batsmen’s ego, the five Tests in England would be no less challenging.

How and where Pant will turn the corner around is the biggest question.