With only one half-century in this IPL, Rishabh Pant has struggled for form in the tournament. With a knock of 18 runs in Lucknow Super Giants’ 37-run loss against Punjab Kings at Dharamsala on Sunday evening, Pant now has a total of 128 runs in 11 matches this season and is failing to get his rhythm. With Pant, who was the most expensive buy at the last IPL auction at Rs 27 crore, also donning the wicket-keeper role for the Capitals, former Australian captain Aaron Finch has suggested that the captain hands the wicketkeeping duties to teammate Nicholas Pooran.
“It must be tough captaining while keeping wickets. You only have a few seconds to communicate with your bowlers. There’s pressure to get the overs done on time, so you’re left with maybe 10–15 seconds to talk, if that. It can be hard to stick to a plan because the bowler’s thinking can change ball by ball. Maybe he could say, ‘Hey Pooran, can you keep for a game? I need to get my rhythm back,” Finch told JioHotstar post the match.
Pant, who had made a comeback to international cricket after his car accident last year, had scored 446 runs in 13 matches last while playing for . Since 2016, when he first played in IPL for the Capitals, Pant has a strike rate of 150-plus in five of his previous eight IPL seasons. His debut season and the 2020 and 2021 seasons were the only seasons where Pant could not score his runs at a strike rate of 150 or more. Last year, Pant had scored 446 runs in 13 matches with an average of 40.54 and a strike rate of 155.40. This season, Pant’s runs have come with an average of 12.80 and a strike rate of 99.22.
Finch also suggested that Pant can take a cue from captains like or . “One or two balls can change the game entirely. That’s why strategic communication is vital. You often see guys like Shreyas Iyer or Shubman Gill around the bowlers for input. That’s a luxury Pant doesn’t have when keeping,” added Finch.
Former Indian cricketer too shared his views about Pant’s approach and batting earlier in the day. “I think, at this point in time, I’m feeling very sorry for him because he’s not been changing his batting order or his approach. I think he’s being pretty stubborn about how he wants to go about things. It’s not working in his favor at the moment. It happens in this sport, to be very honest,” Rayudu told ESPNCricinfo.
