“Not a captain that was decisive and clear” - Former SRH coach’s massive claim on Rishabh Pant after LSG vs SRH IPL 2025 match
Former Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) coach Tom Moody believes that fatigue has played a part in Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain Rishabh Pant's spiralling Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 campaign. The wicket-keeper batter scored only seven runs against Pat Cummins and co. as his side were eliminated in the playoffs race following a six-wicket loss at the Ekana Stadium on Monday, May 19.
Rishabh Pant, whose IPL 2025 season began with a six-ball duck, has only scored 135 runs at a strike rate of 100 following his historic INR 27 crore switch to LSG during the mega auction. To make matters worse, his leadership has also been questioned, with the franchise failing to make it to the playoffs for the second year in a row.
The recent loss against SRH was Pant's 26th loss as captain in the IPL as he holds a win percentage of 52.72, for the time being. Aside from steering DC into the playoffs in 2021, the wicket-keeper has largely struggled as a leader in the IPL.
Tom Moody highlighted Rishabh Pant's questionable body language at the toss, deeming that his 'vague' responses might be stemming from fatigue.
"I totally respect and understand that's your first preference, if you have got a good Indian captain, you go with that, without a doubt. But, I'm sure that it (Pant's captaincy future) is something that will be discussed off-season in that camp, because they clearly committed to Rishabh Pant long-term, by seeing him as the identity of this franchise," Moody said on ESPN Cricinfo.
"From what we heard in his interview at the toss, he was quite vague. It was not a captain that was decisive and clear, so there's probably fatigue there as well. I've never worked with him, I don't know that guy that well apart from a few handshakes post matches. But, what I do see from afar is someone that really celebrates the game. He loves having fun, I'd like to know if he is still having fun," he added.
LSG have two more matches remaining in the campaign against the playoffs-bound Gujarat Titans (GT) and the Royal Challengers Benglauru (RCB) on May 22 and May 27, respectively.
"It couldn't be the best season for us" - Rishabh Pant after LSG's elimination from IPL 2025
It was a similar story for LSG as the in-form openers guided the side to a strong start against the Orange Army, before the innings crumbled. The hosts posted 205-7, but their makeshift bowling unit could not handle an SRH batting unit which clicked after a series of hits and misses over the course of the season.
Despite Travis Head's absence, SRH polished off the total with 10 balls to spare as Abhishek Sharma struck a fluent fifty while Heinrich Klaasen and Kamindu Mendis stepped up with crucial cameos towards the end.
"It couldn't be the best season for us. Getting into the tournament we knew a lot of gaps were there because of injuries. We decided we won't talk about that, but it became difficult to close out those gaps. The way we planned the auction, if we had the same bowling [attack], the story would be different," Pant said after LSG's defeat to SRH at the Ekana Stadium (via ESPN Cricinfo).
LSG lost Mayank Yadav's services in the bowling department due to injury yet again as New Zealand pacer William O'Rourke made his IPL debut. Lack of contribution from Akash Deep and Ravi Bishnoi has also played a massive role in the franchise's misfortune.