Rishabh Pant wasn’t looking very confident as he tried to explain why he came in to bat so late in the lineup during the match where his team faced an embarrassing eight-wicket defeat against the Delhi Capitals on Tuesday. Batting first, his team, LSG, only managed to score 159 runs for 6 wickets. Pant didn’t even get a chance to make an impact, coming in at number seven with just two balls left and ending up with a duck. It didn’t go well either for Abdul Samad, who they chose to promote up the order; he could only manage 2 runs off 8 balls.
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Pant tried to justify the decision by saying they thought Samad could take advantage of the pitch. He mentioned that after Samad, David Miller came in, but they found themselves stuck and couldn’t score. Clearly frustrated, he said, “These are the things we’ve got to figure out and try to find our best combination going forward,” but it felt like he was struggling to explain the team’s choices during the post-match talk.
He also pointed out that the toss played a major role in their defeat because batting second on that ground usually offers a better pitch. “We knew we were about 20 runs short. Toss played a big part. The team bowling first gets a lot of help from the pitch. We just struggled to get runs, he admitted. He noted how in Lucknow, the pitch usually gets better as the game goes on but added, “We can’t complain. Yes, the toss matters, but we’re not looking for excuses.”
It seems like LSG is also making things more complicated than necessary by trying to bring in Mayank Yadav as a substitute for Ayush Badoni. This strategy hasn’t worked out so far, and Pant mentioned, “That’s one reason we’re swapping Ayush, to get Mayank some playing time. It’s already halfway through the season, and we’re trying to fit him in since he just came back from the NCA.”
On the other side, DC’s skipper, Axar Patel, was feeling really good about the win. He felt confident throughout the match, saying it was clear his team was in control most of the time. “Even though we didn’t take wickets at first, we were managing the game well. Once we took two quick wickets, the momentum swung in our favor, and our bowlers did a great job to keep them under 160 runs,” he explained after the match.
Axar even bowled four consecutive overs, including three during the Powerplay. He shared that he has a slight injury that had kept him from bowling much up till now, but he felt good on the day of the match. On the batting side, he showed off his skills, hitting four massive sixes while scoring 34 runs not out. He mentioned, “I always stick to my strengths when I’m batting, no matter where I am in the lineup, and I’ve been successful when I focus on lining up against the bowlers. I’m feeling pretty good about it.”
