Former Indian cricketer Wasim Jaffer criticized Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant for his poor batting form. The cricket expert also said that Pant is contributing very little for the team and added that the entire LSG batting lineup has struggled badly, which has put more pressure on the team this season.
His contribution is nothing – Wasim Jaffer on Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant’s record price is ₹27 crore, but he has struggled to justify it with his performances. After the loss to RCB, Wasim Jaffer took to his YouTube channel to share his views on the poor form of Lucknow Super Giants’ batting lineup.
Jaffer said, “The top four batsmen have to contribute. In that area, LSG is getting hit. Runs are not coming from Mitchell Marsh, Markram was out on a simple ball and for Rishabh Pant, if you remove that one innings, his contribution is nothing. Nicholas Pooran looks completely out of form, looks like he has not even come to the tournament.”
Jaffer also pointed out that repeated low scores are hurting their playoff chances. LSG were reduced to 83/4 before Ayush Badoni and Mukul Choudhary added some late runs against a disciplined RCB bowling attack.
He said, “When so many batting is failing, how is it going to work? The score of 146 was absolutely poor on this ground. So, it was a very weak performance by LSG, they have to pick themselves up, otherwise, it will be too late for them.”
Rishabh Pant is struggling for form despite one match-winning innings this season
This season, Rishabh Pant moved to number 3 to increase his impact. However, the LSG skipper has scored 104 runs in five innings at an average of 26.00 and a strike rate of 122.35.
Pant’s only standout performance was his unbeaten 68 off 50 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad. He failed to strengthen the middle order in the matches against Gujarat Titans (GT), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and his former team Delhi Capitals (DC).
In the recent game against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Pant was hit on his left elbow by a delivery from Josh Hazlewood. He returned after taking five wickets but scored just one run from six balls.
It felt like Virat Kohli would finish the game – Wasim Jaffer
Virat Kohli played as an impressive substitute for the first time in his IPL career. Despite missing the entire fielding innings, he along with Philip Salt attacked new bowlers Mohammed Shami and Prince Yadav during the powerplay.
Avesh Khan dismissed him in the 11th over. After the innings, Wasim Jaffer said that he hoped Kohli would recover quickly from his minor injury and return to full fitness, including fielding duties.
“It looked like he would finish the game for the team, and score 70-80 not out. Unfortunately, he was out on 49 runs. When Virat Kohli plays well, the whole Chinnaswamy gets his money’s worth. I hope he recovers from his problem soon because people want to see his intensity on the field as well,” concluded Wasim Jaffer.
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