Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain Rishabh Pant was spotted having a chat with team mentor Zaheer Khan during their IPL 2025 match against the Delhi Capitals (DC) on Tuesday. Pant dropped himself down to number seven and faced just two balls before being bowled by Mukesh Kumar on the final delivery of LSG’s innings. Pant’s decision to demote himself was heavily criticised by fans and experts as LSG slumped to a thumping eight-wicket loss to DC. During LSG’s innings, a camera spotted Pant, who was padded up to bat, having an intense chat with Zaheer.
The incident happened on the penultimate over and Pant can be seen making animated gestures in the viral video.
embarassing from pant https://t.co/pSTn3lkScf pic.twitter.com/snbPkwAIwl
— (@Sugar_Sai_Gill) April 22, 2025
Following the loss, Pant admitted his team was well short of the par score.
“We knew we were 20 runs short,” said Pant. “In Lucknow, the toss plays a big part. Whoever is bowling first, they get a lot of help from the wicket. We just had to stay back, we just couldn’t get it away.”
Pant, who went to Lucknow for a record bid of Rs 27 crore in the November auction, has scored 106 runs in eight innings with a highest score of 63.
Chasing a modest 160 for victory, DC rode on Rahul’s 42-ball knock and a second-wicket partnership with Abishek Porel, who hit 51, to achieve their target with 13 balls to spare at Lucknow’s home ground.
Delhi, with six wins in eight matches, bounced back from their previous defeat to table-toppers Gujarat Titans and are second in the 10-team table.
Pacer Mukesh Kumar set up victory with his four wickets as he helped pull LSG back from 87-0 to 110-4 and then a below-par total of 159-6.
“Once we picked up two quick wickets, we got the momentum and all the bowlers did well to restrict them under 160,” Delhi skipper Axar Patel said.
(With AFP Inputs)
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