“We Kept Losing Wickets”: Rishabh Pant Admits Faults After Losing To CSK In Thrilling Chase

Cric News India IPL News 2025

April 15, 2025 0 29

Rishabh Pant Admits LSG Fell Short

Rishabh Pant

Lucknow Super Giants suffered a five-wicket defeat to Chennai Super Kings as Rishabh Pant admits loss in a low-scoring IPL 2025 clash.

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain Rishabh Pant admitted that his team fell short with the bat after they suffered a five-wicket defeat against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their latest IPL 2025 fixture. Reflecting on the loss, Pant said the team missed out on adding crucial runs despite a good batting surface at Chepauk.

“We feel we were 10-15 runs short, we kept losing wickets, whenever momentum was there we kept losing wickets and we couldn’t get a partnership. The wicket was nice to bat on, stopping a bit, we could have got ten runs more. Definitely feeling better about my batting with every game … getting into rhythm,” Pant said after the match.

Pant scored his first half-century of the season — a gritty 63 off 49 deliveries — after walking in early due to the quick dismissals of Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran during the Powerplay. He built partnerships with Mitchell Marsh and Ayush Badoni, but the innings lacked a strong finish. The final 10 overs brought only brief moments of acceleration, with CSK’s spinners halting any sustained momentum.

Ravindra Jadeja was particularly effective in the middle overs. He dismissed Marsh and later had Badoni stumped, marking MS Dhoni’s 200th IPL dismissal as a wicketkeeper. Noor Ahmad also played a vital role by containing Pant. The LSG skipper managed just 6 runs off 15 balls against the left-arm wrist spinner, a phase that summed up his determined but restricted innings.

Despite a couple of late boundaries from Pant off Matheesha Pathirana in the 18th over, LSG could only post 166/7 — a total that appeared below par on a two-paced surface. Speaking about his bowling plans, Pant said, “There was a lot of time I thought about bowling Bishnoi [earlier], but I discussed with other players and thought, let’s take it deeper.”

CSK’s chase began with young opener Shaik Rasheed, who impressed on his IPL debut by scoring 27 off 19 balls. He combined with Rachin Ravindra, who smashed 37 off 22, to add 50 runs in just 4.2 overs. The aggressive start put CSK in control, even as LSG’s spinners tried to fight back with regular breakthroughs.

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At 111/5 in the 15th over, CSK still needed 56 runs from 30 balls. The stage was perfectly set for MS Dhoni. Promoting himself ahead of Jamie Overton, the CSK veteran scored an unbeaten 26 off 11 balls, including a trademark one-handed six over deep square leg. Shivam Dube, who anchored the innings at the other end, shifted gears in the 19th over, smashing 19 runs off Shardul Thakur to bring the equation down to just four needed.

Dube remained unbeaten on 43 off 37 balls, and Dhoni stayed till the end to guide CSK home, breaking their five-match losing streak and securing their second win of the season.

For Pant and LSG, the loss marked a setback, but the skipper is taking positives from his own performance. “Definitely feeling better about my batting with every game… getting into rhythm,” Pant concluded.