Rishabh Pant has been ticking all the right boxes as a leader but needs something to click with the bat to bounce back from a poor run of scores in this IPL, feels Lucknow Super Giants mentor Zaheer Khan. Pant has endured a disappointing run with the bat this IPL, registering six single-digit scores for 110 runs in 10 matches with his 63 against Chennai Super Kings being the only performance of note. On Sunday, the LSG captain Pant perished for a mere four trying to reverse sweep Mumbai Indians’ part-time spinner Will Jacks here in their 54-run defeat.
Zaheer dismissed suggestions that Pant, who was bought for a whopping Rs 27 crore — the most expensive purchase in IPL auction history — is feeling the pressure of the big paycheque.
“I wouldn’t relate it to anything like that. He is a leader and he has been fantastic as a leader, that’s something which I can vouch for,” Zaheer told the media after LSG’s loss here at the Wankhede Stadium.
“The kind of efforts he has been taking to make sure that each and every individual in that group is comfortable, is heard (out) and the planning to everything which goes around in IPL has been spot on.
“As a leader, he is ticking all the boxes. As a batter, the middle-order is dependent on Rishabh and I am very confident that the impact which we want from him will come. It’s just about something clicking,” Zaheer said.
The former India pacer said he would not relate Pant’s hefty price tag to creating any additional pressure on the India wicketkeeper-batter.
“I wouldn’t relate it to pressure. You have seen that he is the kind of personality… what happened in the last game is something which is gone by and what’s going to happen, he is a very optimistic and a positive personality so from our side, it’s just about continuing with that,” he said.
Zaheer reiterated Pant will remain central to LSG as their captain and the team would hope for the 27-year-old to find his form with the bat.
“When you’re talking about a team, you’re talking about winning the tournament. We’ve identified Rishabh as that leader who is going to take this team forward so there is no doubt about that,” Zaheer said.
“There are going to be people who are going to hit form. There are going to be people who are going to be short on form, that’s the way game goes.” “We know that in the back-end of the tournament now, the pressure is going to be high, so that’s the focus and it’s about finding that one innings, that is something for anyone, I always say,” he said.
Zaheer said the sixth-placed LSG will look to utilise their one-week break to come back with renewed energies to finish in the final four. LSG will next be in action against Punjab Kings on May 4 in Dharamsala.
“That’s something which we definitely talked about. (To) regroup (and) rejuvenate is something which will happen as we reach Dharamsala.
“A few of the guys are actually going ahead to Dharamshala because the weather is going to be nice and cool, it’s just about having that downtime. We have put in enough work; all the teams pretty much have put in enough work. It’s just about finding that spark and those individuals which are going to make the difference for the franchise,” he added.
Zaheer said LSG will not want to rely on situations where net run rate comes into play in finalising the playoff berths.
“10 games down, five wins, five losses is where we stand (and we are also) not having such a great net run rate. It’s about just playing some good cricket and making sure that we don’t rely on the net run rate. That’s something which we need to be aware of,” he said.
“If you’re talking about going on to win the tournament, you’ve got to play some good cricket, you’ve got to react to the situations. I’m confident that if this group reacts in that fashion, and that’s the environment which we’ve created.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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