With his team surrendering a 156-run chase in a Super Over defeat to the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Sunday night, Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant cut a sorry figure as he attempted to review the string of unending losses.
The numbers are damning. LSG have dropped all of their last five matches this season, and the records plunge further at home, where they have now lost eight consecutive matches under Pant, who took over as captain last year after being roped in for a record Rs 27.50 crore. Former India batter Wasim Jaffer suggested that LSG replace Pant and appoint South Africa skipper Aiden Markram as captain.
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“LSG looks completely out of place right now, it’s hard to even know what to expect from them. If I were in that dugout, the first thing I would do is make Aiden Markram the captain. I would open with Markram and Mitchell Marsh. At number three, Nicholas Pooran, then Rishabh Pant at four, and Ayush Badoni at five. At number six, Abdul Samad, and at seven, Mukul Choudhary. That would be my top seven, and I would go with this batting order,” Jaffer, a former IPL coach, said on his YouTube channel.
Pant’s poor returns as captain has also coincided with difficult times as a batter in the IPL. Since last season, Pant has only scored 458 runs in 21 innings with three fifty-plus scores. Despite scoring 42 in a 156-run pursuit against KKR, Pant failed to see out the chase for his side that eventually conceded a Super Over defeat. Jaffer said a free-flowing player like Pant must not be overburdened with leadership roles.
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“I feel a player like Rishabh Pant should play purely as a player. You get the best out of him when you free him up and tell him to just go out and play and win matches on his own. Don’t burden him with captaincy. I think Aiden Markram is a better captain. He has led South Africa very successfully, he is mentally strong, very composed, and I think he can get the best out of the other players. But this doesn’t look like something that will actually happen. This is just my suggestion, but if I were there, that’s what I would do,” Jaffer added.
Under Pant, LSG have suffered 14 defeats in 22 matches since the start of last season.
