Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain Rishabh Pant and batting coach Lance Klusener shared contrasting views about the team’s performance with the bat after their shocking defeat to Delhi Capitals (DC) in their IPL 2025 opener in Visakhapatnam on March 24. While Pant felt LSG’s 209 for 8 in 20 overs was good score, Klusenser believed the side fell short by 20 to 30 runs as well. However, while chasing, despite being in trouble many times at 7/3 and 65/5, DC pulled off a stunning win by a wicket with three balls to spare as well.

Reflecting on LSG’s loss, Pant said at the post-match presentation (Via ESPN Cricinfo): “I think we had enough runs on the board. Our batters batted really well. We might have lost momentum in between overs 13-17, but it was a pretty good score on this wicket. If I have to put a finger on it, I would like to say we’ve probably left 20 or 30 runs with the bat out there. That was probably why we ended up being under pressure with the ball. I thought they [DC] finished well with the bat, but the reason why we’re in that position is because we didn’t score enough runs, which we should have.”

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Rishabh Pant also admitted that LSG were unlucky in a couple of instances but he wanted to focus on playing well instead of using the luck factor as an excuse as well. With six runs needed off the final over, DC’s No.11 Mohit Sharma got saved from a stumping. He then took a risky single off the next delivery before Ashutosh Sharma won the game with a six.

“Definitely luck plays a little bit of part in the game for sure. If it would’ve missed the pad, it would’ve been a big chance for stumping. But these things happen in cricket. Instead of focusing on these things we should play good cricket instead of thinking about the luck factor,” concluded Rishabh Pant.