NEW DELHI: Rishabh Pant’s struggles with the bat continued as he fell cheaply once again, this time against the Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
Pant managed just four runs off two balls before playing a poor shot that ended his stay. Trying a risky reverse sweep off Will Jacks, he mistimed it completely and handed an easy catch to Karn Sharma at short third man.
Pant, captaining the Lucknow Super Giants this season, has found it tough going.
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He has scored only 110 runs in 10 matches, with just one notable innings of 63 runs. With these numbers, Pant is staring at what could be his lowest IPL return since 2016.
After a strong comeback season last year, where he piled up 446 runs for Delhi Capitals, expectations were high, especially after LSG signed him for Rs 27 crore, making him the most expensive player in IPL history.
Pant’s failure triggered a wave of memes featuring Sanjiv Goenka, the LSG co-owner, across social media.
Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians put up a strong total of 215/7, thanks to explosive half-centuries from Ryan Rickelton (58 off 25) and Suryakumar Yadav (54 off 28).
Rickelton smashed the season’s fastest half-century for MI, while Suryakumar became the season’s highest scorer with 417 runs in 10 innings.
LSG’s bowlers struggled under the Mumbai heat and humidity, though Mayank Yadav and Avesh Khan managed two wickets each. Prince Yadav, Digvesh Rathi, and Ravi Bishnoi chipped in with a wicket apiece, but it wasn’t enough to halt MI’s charge.
With Pant’s form dipping and LSG’s playoff hopes in question, the pressure is clearly mounting — both on the field and across the internet.
