'That's why Sunil Gavaskar got upset...': Ex-KKR star blasts Rishabh Pant following poor show against RR in IPL 2025

Former India cricketer Manoj Tiwary slammed Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain Rishabh Pant for his shot selection during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 clash against Rajasthan Royals. Pant, the most expensive buy of the IPL 2025, is struggling to get his mojo back in the 18th edition of the cash-rich league.

Pant had a horrible outing in his last clash of the tournament, he got out scoring three runs off nine balls. Pant managed to score 106 runs in eight outings of the tournament. He was dismissed by Wanindu Hasaranga after his attempt to play a reverse sweep miserably failed.

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Seeing this, former India batter Manoj Tiwary criticised Pant for his unnecessary shot selection and also echoed Sunil Gavaskar's criticism of Pant.

"Rishabh Pant is that kind of player - he is brimming with talent. There is no need for him to go and play a reverse sweep right away, yet he does it. That's why Sunil Gavaskar got upset during the Test match in the Border-Gavaskar series," said Tiwary on Cricbuzz

Even he knows that Pant has so much ability that he can score runs with straight-bat cricket. So why doesn't he do that? Why does he go for the unconventional?" he added.

Earlier, Gavaskar slammed Rishabh Pant during his dismissal in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 in Australia.

"These kind of matches build character. It was an amazing win. As a team, this is going to take us to a different level. These kind of matches can build the character of players and team. These are the positive things we always talk about. Looking forward, I feel we are going to do better. All the credit to the bowlers holding their nerves at the right time," said Pant after win against RR.

Coming back to the match, Lucknow Super Giants registered a thrilling two-run victory against Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2025 clash in Jaipur. Opting to bat, LSG posted a total of 180/5 in 20 overs with Aiden Markram and Ayush Badoni scoring 66 and 50 runs respectively. Later, RR put up a strong fight with Yashasvi Jaiswal's knock of 74 but LSG managed to restrict them to 178/5 and won the match by two runs. This was LSG's fifth win in eight matches while for RR, it was sixth loss is eight games.