Former India player turned commentator Aakash Chopra has questioned Rishabh Pant’s batting position in the LSG’s IPL 2025 match against the Delhi Capitals (DC). He wondered if Pant was demoted due to blisters on his hand as well. However, Pant came to bat after 19.4 overs and was dismissed for a two-ball duck as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra’, he said, “Rishabh Pant came to bat for only two balls. What are you doing? If you have blisters on your hand, say that, and if not, come to bat. We saw something tied on his hand during the toss, and I got news that he has blisters on his hand, and that’s probably the reason. However, if you are playing and eventually go to bat, you should have gone to bat earlier.”
“It’s the team he (Pant) used to captain earlier, and was playing against them now. The interesting thing is that he scored zero in the last match and zero in this match also. Rishabh Pant hasn’t yet opened his account against Delhi. He was good for Delhi, and the job hasn’t happened properly since he left Delhi,” he shared.
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While saying that he isn’t sure who decided Pant’s batting position, Aakash Chopra added that everything doesn’t seem to be fine in the LSG camp as well.
“Why didn’t you come to bat? In fact, Deep Dasgupta even asked him why he didn’t go. He said it was the team’s plan, and they sent (Abdul) Samad and then (David) Miller, and it didn’t work out well. I am not a body language reader. I don’t know whose decision it was. From a distance, as I don’t have any inside information, it felt that things are not right,” Chopra expressed.
However, Aakash Chopra added that LSG should have posted a 200-run total in their IPL 2025 match against DC, considering the great
start given by Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram as well.
“They started very well. When Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram batted so well and gave such a good start, you should have scored 200. Markram scored a fifty and Mitchell Marsh played very well. Both batted solidly. Whatever Delhi threw at them, it didn’t make a difference to them. Of course, wickets do fall at some stage. Wickets fell, and (Nicholas) Pooran, Samad, Badoni and Miller came, and Rishabh Pant came in the end. That did not make sense. However, Aiden Markram has become this team’s reliable bank, and Mitchell Marsh is batting extremely well,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
