When Nicholas Pooran was dismissed in the 12th over against Delhi Capitals, Lucknow Super Giants' score was 99 for 2. Everyone expected LSG captain Rishabh Pant to walk out but instead, it was Abdul Samad. Even the right and left-hand combination didn't support this logic, as Pooran's replacement should have been a left-hander. The surprises didn't end there. Samad and Mitchell Marsh were dismissed in the next over by Mukesh Kumar as DC made a strong comeback but astonishingly, there was still no sign of Rishabh Pant. LSG chose to send David Miller and Ayush Badoni ahead of the dazzling left-hander, who hadn't been in the best form in this IPL.
The LSG captain finally walked out to bat at No.7 with two balls left in the innings. He charged down the track to Mukesh Kumar and slogged without any contact with the ball. In the last ball of the innings, Mukesh bowled a low full toss at his legs, and Pant tried to reverse lap it over the keeper but ended up hitting it back to his stumps. That kind of day for LSG and Pant. Whatever they tried, it backfired.
As soon as the ball hit his stumps, Pant turned and fumed back to the pavilion. The frustration and anger were written all over his face. Was it because of his dismissal or coming out to bat so late? Former India cricketers Anil Kumble and Suresh Raina believed it was the latter as a visibly frustrated Pant exploded in the LSG dugout.
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"It's alright if you wanted to bat more freely under less pressure by coming in late but this was way too late. The kind of frustration Rishabh is showing is evident that he was wronged. He probably wanted to bat higher. Was it his decision? Or was it coach Justin Langer's or maybe mentor Zaheer Khan's? Whose decision was it? Because he looked very frustrated," Kumble said on Star Sports.
{{/usCountry}}"It's alright if you wanted to bat more freely under less pressure by coming in late but this was way too late. The kind of frustration Rishabh is showing is evident that he was wronged. He probably wanted to bat higher. Was it his decision? Or was it coach Justin Langer's or maybe mentor Zaheer Khan's? Whose decision was it? Because he looked very frustrated," Kumble said on Star Sports.
{{/usCountry}}Pant's animated chat with Zaheer Khan
Pant was seen having an animated chat with former India pacer and current LSG mentor Zaheer Khan in the dugout moments after his dismissal.
Interestingly, Pant's first outburst at Zaheer came in the 19th over when he was all padded up, waiting in the dugout to come out to bat.
His reaction didn't go unnoticed, as Suresh Raina said the discussion must have been about his batting position.
"20 overs are left. You have to keep wickets and captain the side. You have to make your side win. He is discussing that with Zaheer Khan. 'I told you, send me in'," Raina said.
Kumble said Pant should have channelled his frustration better instead of reacting like that, as he is the captain of the side.
"You have to make peace in these situations. He is the captain. He has to take it in a positive way. Whatever frustration or anger he has, he should translate that into positive performance," said the former India captain.
It was a day for LSG and Pant to forget. They collapsed to 159/6 after an 87-run opening stand. In reply, DC batters KL Rahul and Abishek Proel smashed half-centuries to knock off the target in 17.5 overs.
After the match, Pant said they have to rethink their batting approach. "The idea was to capitalise. We sent Samad to capitalise on a wicket like that. After that, Miller came in and we just really got stuck in the wicket. Eventually, these are the things we've got to figure out and try to find our best combination going forward," he said when asked about his batting position.