Rishabh Pant remained in the dug-out on Thursday night even as Lucknow Super Giants briefly wobbled chasing 188 against Chennai Super Kings. Three quick wickets fell after a 135-run opening stand, yet the captain never crossed the boundary rope. Asked why, he put it down to giving under-used batters some time in the middle.
“See, I was ready to bat and the idea came up,” Pant said at the presentation. “I was in the dressing room. The idea came in: why not try players who have not played much, they haven’t got much chances, and that was the idea. I was thinking again and again, should I do it or not, because I still wanted to be out there in the field. But you know, sometimes you have to respect some things for the think tank.”
The think-tank call meant Nicholas Pooran, Abdul Samad and Mukul Choudhary finished the job, LSG winning with seven wickets and 16 balls to spare. From 135 for none in the 12th over they briefly slipped to 144 for three, but the target was never really in doubt.
Pant’s reluctance to slot in lower than No. 4 has been clear all season. Eleven innings: seven at first-drop, three at four, one as a stop-gap opener. Thursday marked the first time he stayed unused while fit to bat. He was visibly padded up, helmet on knee, then remained seated.
Top-order experiment
Lucknow’s revolving door of combinations has been a talking point for a while. Mitchell Marsh and Josh Inglis, fresh from that 135-run stand, are the latest pairing. Earlier in the season Aiden Markram and even Pooran had a crack. Loading the Powerplay with overseas hitters was, according to Pant, intentional.
“See, definitely that was the first thought,” he explained. “That getting two overseas players to open the innings and Nicky (Pooran) batting at three. That was the idea. Sometimes it’s difficult when thought process is not being implemented all the time. But at the same time, we take pride, and we are confident as a team. The only thing I would say is it’s frustrating when you know what you have as a team, [but] just because of little thought process here and there and you can’t implement things the way you want. Things can happen.
“The only thing that can harm us is having too many thought process.”
That last line felt familiar. After a Super Over defeat to KKR in April, he had lamented, “too many minds doesn’t make it easy on the ground.” The theme is clear: a crowded back-room staff – Tom Moody, Justin Langer, Kane Williamson, Bharat Arun, Lance Klusener, Ryan Cook and Carl Crowe are all on the payroll – offers plenty of ideas but perhaps not one settled voice.
Numbers game
LSG sit mid-table yet look more dangerous than their record suggests. Their net run rate is healthy, the bowling has depth, and Pant himself averages north of forty at a strike-rate touching 160. What they lack is continuity. Thursday’s gentle chase provided a risk-free window to test the bench; in tighter matches, the captain will surely bat.
For now, the decision felt harmless: extra minutes for Samad and Choudhary, a seven-wicket win, two points in the bag. Whether that “too many thought process” resurfaces later in the tournament may decide how far Lucknow travel in May.
