Sanjiv Goenka and Rishabh Pant were in the spotlight as Punjab Kings defeated Lucknow Super Giants at Ekana Stadium.
Rishabh Pant, the captain of LSG, is still trying to make a significant impact in his new role. He was confidently picked by Sanjiv Goenka and LSG for ₹27 crores at the auction, making him the highest-paid player in the league. However, his form and captaincy have been a concern for both fans and the owners. Goenka was once again seen confronting Pant after a disappointing home defeat against PBKS.
Photographs from the incident show Goenka in a bad mood, questioning Pant about the team's performance, while Pant appeared to have his head down, responding to his boss’s inquiries.
So far this season, Pant's scores are 0, 15, and 2 runs, indicating that he is yet to leave a mark as a batsman, and questions about his captaincy continue to arise due to his on-field decisions. Nicholas Pooran and Shardul Thakur have been LSG's standout players this season.
In this match, Lucknow Super Giants were forced to bat first and only managed to score 171 runs for 7 wickets. Nicholas Pooran contributed 44 runs off 30 balls to help his team. In response, PBKS swiftly chased the target in just 16 overs, with Prabhsimran Singh scoring 69 runs off 34 balls and captain Shreyas Iyer adding 52 runs off 30 balls, leading PBKS to their second consecutive victory of the season.
After the match, Rishabh Pant looked visibly upset. In the post-match presentation, he remarked that they were 20-25 runs short of a competitive total. He expressed concerns about the pitch, stating,
"The total wasn't enough; we were 20-25 runs short, but that's part and parcel of the game. We're still assessing the conditions at our home ground. The idea was to prepare a slow wicket, but I think the slower balls were sticking to the surface."
Zaheer Khan, their mentor, also commented on the pitch at Ekana Stadium, expressing his disappointment and criticizing the stadium's curator. He said,
"What was a little disappointing for me here, considering it's a home game, is that in the IPL, teams often look to take home advantage. It seems the curator isn’t thinking of it as a home game. It looked like it was curated to favor Punjab."
Rishabh Pant is under immense pressure from all sides, especially from Goenka, who is eager to discuss the team's performance whenever things don't go right on the field. With his batting form in question, Pant needs a significant turnaround and should focus on improving results. Given that it's still early in the tournament, he deserves some space to find his rhythm.
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