LSG FLOP SHOW: Captain Rishabh Pant acknowledges handicapped pace attack let team down

This has turned out be a season of misery for Lucknow Super Giants as they made their exit from the IPL 2025 on Monday night. With nothing at stake, Sunrisers Hyderabad, came out firing, to defeat LSG convincingly in a league match.

Just after the IPL auction was held in Jeddah towards the end of 2024  in Saudi Arabia, the buzz was over Rishabh Pant, bought for a record Rs 27 crores. Sadly, Pant was woefully out of form and he was falling to cheap scores which even a tailender would be ashamed of.

On Monday, too, Pant was dismissed cheaply. The focus will be on Pant, as he is the new captain of the Lucknow outfit, where they have a tough boss in Sanjiv Goenka. Goenka had gone to Tirupati on the same day (Sunday) as Indian coach Gautam Gambhir and must have prayed for a miracle. Sadly, none happened and LSG have fallen by the wayside.

In terms of energy and enthusiasm, SRH, with nothing at stake, played good cricket where they were able to put mind over matter. Captain Pat Cummins flew back all the way from Australia and for pride’s sake he has done well to ensure his side was able to do the damage. Had LSG won, there may have been a mathematical chance of Playoffs qualification. No, they bit the dust.

For all those who heard Rishabh Pant speak after the match, it is clear the bowling unit of LSG was a disaster. After the auction, one may have got swayed they have a very potent bowling attack comprising Mayank Yadav, left arm quick Mohsin Khan, Avesh Khan and Akash Deep.

It is well known, many pacers have done well in this IPL, be it from India or overseas. Sadly, LSG were done in by their much-hyped fast bowling pace batter which was unfit. It will be interesting to see how Zaheer Khan, who is part of the LSG think-tank and coaching staff answers questions when he comes face to face with the LSG bosses. No team owner wants to see poor results and Sanjiv Goenka has built a reputation as someone who is a hard task master.

Take the case of Mayank Yadav. When he burst onto the scene in 2024, the hype had begun, People started singing praise as if he was going to be the biggest gift to Indian cricket. The guy collapsed after a few matches. In the 2025 edition of the IPL, Mayank was unfit for a major part of the IPL.

By the time he was given the clearance certificate by the Centre for Excellence in Bengaluru, a BCCI rehab unit, Mayank was again supported by a massive PR drive. He played two matches, got thrashed and again collapsed. His back has given away and it’s a shame how he is so unfit. For those who saw him bowl, his pace had dropped to 130kmph and batters were able to hammer him with sheer contempt.

The auction strategy of each team in the IPL is important. LSG had planned with a pace attack but the way Mayank, Mohsin, Avesh and gang failed is miserable. Of course, Pant offered no excuses nor did he blame any player. As leader, he has accepted failure.

“It couldn’t be the best season for us,” said Rishabh Pant. Getting into the tournament, we knew a lot of gaps were there because of injuries. We decided that we won’t talk about that, but it became difficult to close out those gaps,” explained Pant.