"Instead Of Questioning...": Rishabh Pant's Retort When Asked About Loss vs MI

Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant defended his decision to bowl first in hot and humid conditions in an afternoon start at the Wankhede Stadium as his team slumped to a 54-run defeat in Match 45 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 on Sunday. The Mumbai batters capitalised on the pitch that looked good for batting and posted 215/7, riding on half-centuries by Ryan Rickelton (58) and Suryakumar Yadav (54). With the LSG batters scorched and cooked up by the hot and humid conditions, Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult produced fiery spells to claim 4-22 and 3-20 to bowl out the visitors for 161 in 20 overs and secured MI's fifth straight win.

This was Mumbai's 150th win in IPL history, the first to reach this milestone, and also the first for the five-time champions over LSG in the league phase.

But Pant said his decision to bowl first did not impact the match as they were outplayed by a side that played better.

"It (bowling first) was the right decision for us, we back our batting. We want to give the bowlers the best conditions, but today was not our day. The other team is also playing good cricket, and you have to give them credit instead of questioning ourselves. But we can figure it out because we have a break," said Pant after his team slumped to their fifth defeat in 10 matches. This was their second loss in a row and leaves them glued to sixth position in the table.

While his team slumped to another defeat, Pant continued to struggle for form as he got out on the second ball to Will Jacks after hitting him for a four off the first delivery. Pant, who usually bats in the middle-order, came in to bat at No. 4 but could not capitalise on it.

He defended his decision to promote himself and said he is not thinking