What’s Ailing Rishabh Pant? Experts Point to Stubbornness, Mindset, and Pressure

Rishabh Pant’s underwhelming IPL 2025 campaign has come under sharp scrutiny, with former cricketer Ambati Rayudu attributing the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain’s ongoing struggles to his “stubbornness” and misplaced batting role. Despite being the costliest buy of the auction at INR 27 crore, Pant has returned just 128 runs in 10 innings, with five single-digit scores and only one half-century. His continued preference for batting at No. 4—despite a series of failures—has led to questions about whether the middle order suits his natural game. Rayudu believes Pant lacks the mindset for middle-order consolidation and is better suited to open, suggesting, “Maybe he has the skillset, but not the mindset to execute that [middle-order role].”

While Pant has experimented slightly with his batting position—briefly trying No. 6, opening once, and even dropping to No. 7—he keeps reverting to No. 4, where results have not followed. In LSG’s latest match against Punjab Kings, chasing 237, Pant managed a labored 18 off 17 balls before getting out playing an overly aggressive shot that saw him lose control of his bat. Katey Martin, speaking on his dismissal, pointed to a pattern of overly extravagant shots betraying a lack of mental calmness and poor shot selection—calling it Pant’s "downfall."

Rayudu also noted Pant’s evident lack of confidence, stating, “At the moment, the word I would use is he lacks confidence.” The added pressure of captaincy and wicketkeeping may also be weighing him down. Katey Martin highlighted how being a wicketkeeper-captain makes on-field communication difficult, especially with leaders like Nicholas Pooran often stationed on the boundary, making coordination challenging.

In contrast, Shreyas Iyer, another mega-auction buy, has thrived as Punjab Kings’ captain, largely credited to his strong relationship with coach Ricky Ponting, which dates back to their time together at Delhi Capitals. Rayudu emphasized the importance of a captain-coach alignment, suggesting that Pant lacked that synergy with Ponting during their DC days. Martin added that Iyer, who’s had more personal success with the bat, better fits Ponting’s leadership model and vision.

With LSG sitting seventh on the table with six losses in 11 games, Pant’s form and decisions are now central to the team’s playoff hopes—if any remain. Whether a change in approach or batting position can salvage his season remains to be seen.

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