Rishabh Pant's batting position change orders came from outside of LSG; BCCI helpless- Report

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain Rishabh Pant has stormed back into the spotlight with a breathtaking century against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the last IPL 2025 league match on Tuesday, May 27, at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.

Lucknow Super Giants might have lost their final match by six wickets to Royal Challengers Bengaluru at home, but the Indian wicketkeeper-batter silenced his critics and reminded everyone why he’s one of the most fearless batters going around the world in style.

Rishabh Pant’s fearless knock against RCB silences critics

Pant was under immense pressure with questions swirling around his form, with only a single fifty to his name in the IPL 2025 till the last league match in Lucknow. The LSG invested a whopping INR 27 crore on him at the mega auction, but he turned out their biggest weakness this season.

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The left-handed batter could manage only 269 runs across the 14 innings at an average of 24.45 and a strike rate of 133.17 this season. However, the Lucknow Super Giants managed to finish his campaign on a high, scoring an unbeaten 118 runs off 61 balls against the RCB on Tuesday.

Well, Rishabh Pant's resurgence wasn’t by chance, as its credit goes to his private chat with Devender Sharma, who mentored the Indian star since his early days at the Sonnet Club. He advised Pant to bat at number three, and this small tweak unlocked the old swagger, fearless, and confident star.

I told him to play like Rishabh Pant: LSG captain's mentor

The LSG captain’s brutal strokeplay and clever shot selection during his swashbuckling century against the RCB showed the maturity and madness that makes him special. His mentor’s advice did wonders for Pant as he is gearing up for the tough Test tour of England.

Devender Sharma was quoted as saying by CricBlogger, “I told him to play like Rishabh Pant — and he did exactly that. When there were three matches left in the season, I happened to speak to him and suggested he bat at No. 3. He scored big runs — just like he did during the England series.”

Meanwhile, Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) chairman Rohan Jaitley hailed Pant’s century, saying it’s a great boost for the Indian cricket team ahead of the upcoming five-match Test series against England, starting on June 20 in Leeds.

Rohan Jaitley stated, “Pant’s century augurs well for the Indian team, and he must be feeling super confident after that knock against RCB.”

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Rishabh Pant not dwelling on LSG's poor IPL 2025 campaign, instead looking forward to the England tour

Well, Lucknow Super Giants had a dismal campaign in the IPL 2025, finishing seventh in the points table with only six wins from the 14 games under Pant’s captaincy.

However, the LSG captain said that there are a lot of areas where the team needs to work, but his immediate focus is the England tour, where he will be India’s vice-captain.

Rishabh Pant said at the post-match press conference, “There'll be a lot of areas where we'll be talking and looking to improve ourselves, but the season is just ending; I don't know where the talk is going to go. I just want to switch off for a few days, not think about cricket, and then the England series is coming up, and I just want to prepare for that in a good frame of mind.”

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