Rishabh Pant scored a 2-ball duck against DC© BCCI/Sportzpics
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) skipper Rishabh Pant’s No. 7 stunt saw the franchise lose steam after a terrific opening stand between Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh. Pant, who usually bats at the No. 4 spot, saw the likes of Ayush Badoni, Abdul Samad and David Miller bat ahead of him in the game against the Delhi Capitals. Pant came out to bat for just two deliveries before heading back to the LSG dugout for a duck. While the move did make ‘some sense’ to former England cricketer Nick Knight, he doesn’t feel it paints a good picture.
“I’ve not really a problem with Badoni batting at four-five,” Knight said. “I see some rationale in that, because I think he’s playing well, and I think he’s more likely to score runs than Rishabh Pant. There’s the problem. Samad you could probably say the same, he’s more likely to score runs than Rishabh Pant. David Miller, you could say the same,” Knight was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
Pant has been one of the most off-form players this campaign, scoring 106 runs in 9 matches at an average of 13.25. Knight found logic in the franchise deciding to promote other batters over him. But, for a leader, it did look like an embarrassing situation.
“When you look at the decision-making, perhaps in rationale it makes some sense. Where I don’t like it at all is it just doesn’t look very good. There is your captain, sliding, going backwards in the batting order when you really need him to step up. He’s the one that’s going to be standing up and talking in front of your team, he’s the one who’s leading you out there. He’s your leader, and it just doesn’t look great when the leader is going the other way.
“From that perspective, that’s my problem, because I would agree – Badoni is probably more likely to score runs, etc. It doesn’t look right.”
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