Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has backed Rishabh Pant to fare well despite a defeat to DC. The LSG captain had a miserable outing in the team’s IPL 2025 opener, faltering in both his batting and captaincy. Ashutosh Sharma’s heroics allowed Axar Patel and co. to steal a 1-wicket win against the Super Giants on Monday.
Gavaskar hopes Pant will do well in IPL 2025
Speaking on Kuhl Fans Match Center on JioHotstar, Gavaskar opined that Pant understands the areas of improvement needed after LSG’s failure against DC. He said that the southpaw was an “intelligent cricketer”, noting that the loss to DC was just the first game and that there were 13 more matches left.
“This is just the first match, and there are 13 more to go. Rishabh Pant is an intelligent cricketer, and he will have picked up valuable insights regarding his batting and captaincy. I believe we will see an improved performance from him,” Gavaskar said.
Pant was dismissed for a six-ball duck on Monday. To make matters worse, he made use of some questionable tactics as captain. The decision to turn towards spin in the 18th over, when LSG needed just one wicket to win, backfired as Ashutosh Sharma went berserk. Further, Pant missed a crucial stumping that could’ve sealed the win for the side.
“Additionally, when a captain scores runs or takes wickets, it significantly boosts their confidence in making bowling changes and setting the field. Once he gets some runs under his belt, I expect his captaincy to become even more assured,” Gavaskar added.
