Questioned On Rs 27 Crore-Worth Rishabh Pant's Form, LSG Mentor Zaheer Khan's Response

Two losses in three games have hit Lucknow Super Giants hard, and team mentor Zaheer Khan couldn't dodge questions that were asked about the franchise's new skipper Rishabh Pant. The wicket-keeper batter, who arrived from the Delhi Capitals for a fee of INR 27 crore, a record in the history of the Indian Premier League, hasn't managed to score 17 runs from three matches. When LSG mentor Zaheer Khan was asked about Pant's form as a batter, he said that he team has to back him as he is the skipper.

"We always have to find a way as he is our captain. Everyone has expectations from him and I believe the way he has done well as a captain, he will also contribute as a player," Zaheer said in the post-match press conference. 

Zaheer also did not hold back in his criticism of the home-ground pitch following the heavy defeat to Punjab Kings, remarking, it looked like the PBKS "curator out here".

Chasing 172 on a track that offered grip and variable bounce, PBKS rode on opener Prabhsimran Singh's 34-ball 69 to outplay the home side by eight wickets as LSG find themselves saddled at the No.6 spot with just one victory in three games and a net run rate in the negative.

"What was a little disappointing for me here, considering it's a home game, and you know, in IPL you've seen how teams have looked at taking a little bit of home advantage, you know," said the former India pacer in the post-match press interaction.

"So yeah, from that point of view, you've seen the curator is not really thinking that it's a home game. You know, I think maybe it looked like, you know, it was Punjab curator out here." The former pacer, who was the global head of cricket development at Mumbai Indians before joining LSG, added that all this deprives the