The 2025 IPL season has been a disaster for Rishabh Pant. As captain of the Lucknow Super Giants, he’s struggled with the bat and his team failed to make the playoffs. Bought for a whopping 27 crore rupees, Pant didn’t deliver. His teammate, Michelle Marsh, thinks Pant will be the first to admit this season was a letdown.
Marsh himself has had a great season, with 443 runs and five half-centuries. But even he can’t save the team now. After a six-wicket loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad, the Super Giants are out of the running. Pant has managed just 135 runs in 12 matches, with a strike rate under 100.
“I know he’s a fantastic player, very skilled and talented,” Marsh said. “He’ll bounce back.” Marsh thinks the team needs to focus on winning their last two matches. “It’s all about finishing strong now,” he said.
Aakash Chopra, a former Indian opener, agrees that failure can be a tough teacher. “Success can teach you some things, but failure changes your mindset,” he said. “Rishabh Pant needed a good season to make an impact and build a strong team. It didn’t happen.” Chopra wonders if Pant will change his approach to T20 cricket after this season.
When you’re in a slump, everything seems to go wrong. But Chopra says that’s when you learn and come back stronger. “This season has been a nightmare for Pant,” he said. “But the good thing about nightmares is you eventually wake up.”