The injuries that the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) pacers suffered at the start and during the middle of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 left significant voids that were challenging for the other players to fill, according to Rishabh Pant. Following his team’s elimination on Monday, May 19, following a defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Ekana Cricket Stadium, the LSG captain made this statement.
Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram each scored fifty runs to help LSG reach a commanding 205/7. However, the former champions won in 18.2 overs with six wickets remaining with to Abhishek Sharma’s 20-ball 59 and helpful contributions from Heinrich Klaasen, Kamindu Mendis, and Ishan Kishan.
For us, it couldn’t be the best season. We anticipated going into the competition that there would be several gaps due to injury. After the game, Pant stated, “We decided we won’t talk about that, but it became difficult to close out those gaps.”
Mohsin Khan was injured and missed the full season. After missing the first few games, Avesh Khan and Akash Deep joined the team. Midway through the season, Mayank Yadav made a full recovery from an injury and participated in two games. However, his campaign was cut short by another injury.
“The story would have been different if we had used the same bowling [approach] in the manner we organised the auction. However, since cricket is a game, anything can happen. They don’t always go your way, but sometimes they do. We must be proud of the way we’re performing. Instead of talking more about the negative aspects, we should focus on the good,” he continued.
Definitely the bowler Rathi has come up nicely for us this season: Rishabh Pant
Pant said that the firepower in the batting department has been the biggest positive for LSG. He noted that his bowlers tried hard but were inconsistent.
“There’s enough firepower in the batting. That’s the biggest positive. Even the bowlers, they were bowling in good areas but they were patchy, a little bit. We were trying to make the best of it. We’ve been playing well in patches. In the first half of the season, the players did well, we tried to cover up all problems, but in the second half it became tougher and tougher to catch up against the teams doing well,” Pant noted.
Digvesh Rathi, who dazzled the cricket community with his leg-spin bowling all season long, was also praised by Pant. At a respectable economy rate of 8.18, the Delhi cricketer has claimed 14 wickets in 12 games. By taking the vital wickets of Abhishek and Ishan Kishan on Monday, he gave LSG a chance to win.
“Rathi, our bowler, has undoubtedly improved for us this season. It was impressive to watch him bowl like that. One of the good things is Rathi. As a team, there are a lot of things we need to keep working on to get better and better,” Pant added.
India
