5 May 2025 : Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant‘s woeful run in the ongoing IPL 2025 continued on Sunday. He was dismissed for just 18 runs off 17 balls against the Punjab Kings at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala. LSG lost the game by 37 runs, and their chances of making the playoffs took a huge hit.
Contrary to the previous game, Pant batted at No. 4 for Lucknow, but his fortunes remained unchanged as he was dismissed in a rather comical fashion. Looking to take on Azmatullah Omarzai in the eighth over of the chase, the wicketkeeper-batter danced down the track to execute the lofted shot, but he lost his grip on his bat, which flew towards the square-leg region. Conversely, the ball went straight to the fielder at sweeper cover as Shashank Singh took it comfortably.
Pant walked off, looking at the heavens and mouthing a few words, expressing his disappointment at his dismissal. LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka, on the other hand, who, as usual, was present during the game in Dharamsala, had a resigned look on his face after Pant’s dismissal. Earlier, he was seen dejected after Nicholas Pooran’s cheap dismissal inside the powerplay.
Summary: Sanjiv Goenka’s disappointed reaction to Rishabh Pant’s bizarre dismissal has led to fan outrage, with calls for Pant’s removal as LSG captain after a poor debut.