Rishabh Pant Called 'Okay Player' As Experts Rip Into LSG Captain For Shocking Season

Bought for a whopping fee of Rs. 27 crore, a record in the history of the Indian Premier League, Rishabh Pant has been nothing but a costly disappointment for the Lucknow Super Giants in the 2025 season. The wicket-keeper batter, who was also given the team's captaincy, only scored 135 runs in 12 matches so far, proving to be inefficient both with the bat and from a leadership point of view. As the defeat against the Sunrisers Hyderabad confirmed LSG's exit from the IPL playoffs race on Monday, Pant was branded as an 'okay player' who performs the worst in the T20 format.

In a chat on Cricbuzz, former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull said that Pant is at his weakest in the shortest format and LSG probably made a mistake by appointing him the captain of the franchise.

"It's his worst format. They were desperate to go after him. Now he has had a poor season. You know, he doesn't... so he hasn't set huge standards, really high standards that he completely dipped to. He has just been an okay player as far as you know, T20 cricketers are concerned. He is an unbelievable Test match player. And sometimes you see the shots that he plays in Tests, you think they must be a great T20 player. But his record wouldn't suggest that," he said.

Before LSG managed to rope in Pant in the mega auction, Nicholas Pooran was leading the race to become the franchise's new captain. But the Indian wicket-keeper batter's arrival triggered a change of heart at the Lucknow franchise, who decided to put him in charge.

"They were desperate for a local captain. And I kind of understand that as well. I think when sides look at an overseas captain, when you've got eight options, not all teams have eight options. You want to be able to utilise them if