Rishabh Pant Reflects on Lucknow Super Giants' IPL 2025 Season After Elimination

In the aftermath of Lucknow Super Giants' elimination from the IPL 2025 playoffs, captain Rishabh Pant reflects on the season's challenges and highlights. Despite injuries impacting the team's performance, Pant emphasizes the strengths of their batting lineup and praises emerging talent Digvesh Rathi. The match against Sunrisers Hyderabad marked the end of LSG's campaign, with Pant analyzing both the positives and negatives of their journey. Discover more about Pant's insights and the team's performance in this detailed recap.

By Narendra Chaudhary May 20, 2025, 11:44 IST

LSG's Season Concludes with Loss to SRH

After Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) faced a defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), their hopes for the playoffs were dashed. Captain Rishabh Pant shared insights on the highs and lows of a tumultuous season.

The IPL 2025 campaign for LSG ended with SRH's six-wicket victory at Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, leaving Delhi Capitals (DC) and Mumbai Indians (MI) to vie for the final playoff position. Gujarat Titans, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and Punjab Kings have already secured their spots in the playoffs.

Pant Discusses Team's Inconsistencies

In his post-match comments, Pant noted that the season had the potential to be one of the franchise's best. However, injuries to key players made it challenging to maintain performance levels. He highlighted the strength of the batting lineup, particularly praising the contributions of Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, and Nicholas Pooran.

"This could have been one of our standout seasons, but we faced numerous challenges, including injuries. We chose not to dwell on these issues, but it was tough to compensate for the absences. Our auction strategy was solid, but cricket can be unpredictable. We take pride in our efforts and focus on the positives rather than the negatives," Pant stated.

"Our batting lineup is robust, and that remains a significant positive. The bowlers often performed well, but consistency was lacking. We recognized we were falling short by about 10 runs, especially since the pitch was favorable. We played well in phases but struggled to maintain momentum," he added.

"The first half of the season was promising, but the latter part proved increasingly difficult as we tried to catch up with other teams," Pant concluded.

Praise for Digvesh Singh Rathi

Pant also commended Digvesh Rathi for enhancing the team's spin attack, noting his impressive performance with 14 wickets in 12 matches at an average of 28.07.

"Rathi has shown great potential in his debut season. His bowling has been a highlight, but continuous improvement is essential for future success," Pant remarked.

LSG's Match Breakdown Against SRH

In the match, SRH won the toss and chose to field first. Markram and Marsh contributed significantly, scoring half-centuries and forming a 115-run partnership for the first wicket. Aside from Pooran, who later scored, the rest of the batting lineup struggled, leading LSG to a total of 205/7 in their 20 overs.

Eshan Malinga was SRH's standout bowler, taking 2 wickets for 28 runs, while Harshal Patel, Harsh Dubey, and Nitish Kumar Reddy each claimed one wicket.

During the chase, Abhishek Sharma (59 runs off 20 balls) and Ishan Kishan (35 runs off 28 balls) built an 82-run partnership for the second wicket. Contributions from Heinrich Klaasen (47 runs off 28 balls) and Kamindu Mendis (32 runs off 21 balls) helped SRH successfully chase the target with four wickets remaining and 10 balls to spare.

With this win, SRH sits in eighth place with four victories, seven losses, and one no result, totaling nine points. Although they were eliminated from playoff contention, they played a spoiler role against LSG, who are now in seventh place with five wins and seven losses, accumulating 10 points.