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In the match against Delhi Capitals (DC), Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) stunned everyone when they sent Abdul Samad ahead of David Miller and Rishabh Pant. Captain Pant walked out to bat at no.7 after impact player Ayush Badoni and departed without troubling the scorers. Many questioned Pant's decision to demote himself down the order. India's veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara wasn't happy with the move and asked Pant to stop doing what Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni does by attempting the finisher's job.
“I genuinely don't know what the thought process was. But there's no doubt - he should be batting higher up the order. He's trying to do what MS Dhoni does, but he's nowhere near that level. I still feel he's someone who should be batting during the middle overs, between the 6th and 15th. He's not a finisher, and he shouldn't be doing the job of one,” Pujara told ESPNcricinfo.
When Pant decided to send Samad in, Nicholas Pooran had already departed. The experiment failed as he scored just two runs from eight balls. Miller looked sluggish and could manage only 14 runs from 15 balls. Badoni helped LSG accelerate with his 21-ball 36 cameo. LSG posted a below par total of 159/6. Badoni said that the total would have been more during the innings break.
Knight sees logic but unhappy with message sent
Former England opener Nick Knight saw some logic to what Pant did with the shuffle in the batting order but wants him to step up as a leader.
"I'm saying this because it's just so bizarre. The way I see it, I don't really have a problem with Badoni batting at 4 or 5. I can see some rationale there—he’s playing well, and honestly, I think he’s more likely to score runs than Pant right now. You could probably say the same about someone like David Miller,” Knight in the same conversation.
“So, when you look at it from a decision-making point of view, there’s some logic. But where I really don't like it is how it looks. Pant is your captain, and seeing your captain sliding down the order, taking a step back when the team really needs him to step up—it just doesn’t sit right. He's the one who stands in front of the team, the one leading them out there. And when your leader is going the other way, it doesn’t send a great message. That, more than anything, is my issue,” he added.
However, the main reason behind Pant batting down the order could be that he is not 100 per cent fit. During the match, he was seen with taping on his right hand in the dugout. For the two balls he faced, he looked to use Mukesh's pace instead of attempting to muscle the ball into the stands.
What Pant said about batting at no.7
After the comprehensive eight-wicket defeat, Pant explained the rationale behind sliding himself down the order.
"Idea was to like capitalise. We sent Samad to capitalize on a wicket like that. After that Miller came in and we just really got stuck in the wicket. Eventually, these are the things we got to figure out and try to find our best combination going forward," Pant said in the post-match presentation.
Pant's stocks with bat fall
Currently, Pant is seventh on the list of run-scorers for LSG this season. He has managed to score 106 runs from eight innings at an average of 13.25 and a strike rate of 96.36. The 27-year-old who was roped in for Rs 27 crore by LSG in the mega auction has one fifty in the season. He scored 63 runs against Dhoni-led CSK in a losing cause.
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