Rayudu criticizes LSG captain Pant's batting position in ongoing IPL struggles

New Delhi [India], May 5 (ANI): Former India cricketer Ambati Rayudu believes that Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain Rishabh Pant is going through a very bad patch in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 because of his stubbornness in not changing his batting position. According to Rayudu, Pant doesn't have the right mindset to bat in the middle order and would be better suited as an opener, as per ESPNcricinfo.
Pant, who was the most expensive player in the last IPL auction at a massive INR 27 crore, has had a disappointing season so far--scoring just 128 runs in ten innings. He's had five single-digit scores, including a duck, and has managed only one half-century.
"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," Rayudu said as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
"I think he's being pretty stubborn about how he wants to go about things. It's not working in his favour at the moment. It happens in this sport, to be very honest, and he is going through a very, very bad patch. It can happen to anybody. I just hope that he takes this learning and improves on it and doesn't become even more stubborn, but just accept the fact that he is struggling and start doing things a little differently (and) try and get better every day. That's all you can do," he said on ESPNcricinfo's Time Out.
"I think more than anything it's just the clarity of what he wants to do because Pant ideally for me is an opener in white-ball cricket, because in the middle order he has not been great. I know he loves playing in the middle but he doesn't have the batsmanship that is required or the skill set. Maybe he has the skillset, but not the mindset to execute that," he noted.
In LSG's recent match against Punjab Kings (PBKS), Pant came in at No. 4 after two early wickets fell. Chasing 237, he struggled to make an impact, scoring only 18 runs from 17 balls. LSG eventually lost the match by 37 runs and are currently seventh on the points table with six defeats in 11 games.
To be fair, Pant has shuffled his position several times this season--starting at No. 4, dropping to No. 6 in one game, opening in another, and even going as low as No. 7. However, he keeps returning to the No. 4 spot, which seems to be his preferred position.
In the match against PBKS, he began with a promising six over mid-off against Marco Jansen and followed it with two boundaries off Yuzvendra Chahal but in the eighth over, while trying to go big against Azmatullah Omarzai, he lost control of his bat, which flew to midwicket. The ball took a top edge and was caught at deep cover, ending his innings. (ANI)