Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain Rishabh Pant is not having the best of tournaments with the bat, and the match against Delhi Capitals (DC) would not have done any good to his confidence, having come into bat at No.7 with only two balls left in the LSG innings. While some of his decision-making in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2025) has been questionable, nothing possibly beats the fact that he got himself demoted so much down the order that he didn't even have enough balls to make an impact. This was after he got himself into some kind of form against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on 14th April, 2025.

With scores of 0, 15, 2, 2, 21, 63, 3, 0 in 9 matches in this edition, Pant would know more than anybody else that he needs to fire with the bat if his team has to entertain any hopes of winning the title. Talking about his batting position, former India spinner and IPL star Harbhajan Singh said that it is beyond his understanding. With players like Abdul Samad, Ayush Badoni batting ahead of him against DC, Harbhajan feels that the decision might have come from the team management, which did not go down too well with the left-hand batter.

"Why did Rishabh Pant bat at No. 7? It's beyond my thinking. Let's try to solve it. Is Rishabh Pant batting at No. 7 justified? Abdul Samad, Ayush Badoni batted ahead of him. Whose decision was it? It was either the team management's or Pant's. Pant, however, was furious. He was angry. Seemed as if he was told something because of which he wasn't happy. His mood was off, too," Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel.

Asserting the fact that having known Pant for quite some time, the 44-year-old reckons there must have been a discussion with Pant that left him unhappy and he didn't like it. Harbhajan further added that Pant is struggling for form and demoting the captain of the team only went on to complicate matters.

"This is my opinion. Some discussion took place about Rishabh Pant, which probably made him upset. We know Pant well. He is a good kid, who respects elders and seniors. But is it right? If Pant is struggling for form, would you demote him at No. 7? He is your captain. You send him at the toss. I didn't like it. How can a team win if its captain is unhappy," he added.

With five wins and four losses, Lucknow are now placed fifth in the points table and would need Pant to be at his best for the remainder of the tournament to be in contention for a spot in the playoffs. LSG would next take on Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wakhede Stadium on Sunday, April 27, 2025.

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