Pant's 'madness' is missing this IPL season

Pant in IPL Rishabh Pant has scored 106 runs at an average of 15.14 and a strike-rate 98.14 in 8 games this season for the LSG

- Ashish Magotra

NEW DELHI: Rishabh Pant is a mad batter. Probably the maddest India has seen. A batter who looks to take on the bowlers at every given opportunity; a batter who is always going for a win; a batter who will shock you not just with his choice of stroke but also his audacity.

We've seen Pant get out to a 'stupid' shot (as Gavaskar put it recently in Australia) many times but we've still let it pass because this is Pant—a batter who will win matches when he gets going. His batting was always a double-edged sword and the risk was integral to the glory.

But IPL 2025 has seen Pant abandon the madness. He looks normal. He looks ordinary. And that can never be fun. In 8 games this season for the Lucknow Super Giants, the left-hander has scored 106 runs at an average of 15.14 (just marginally better than Rohit Sharma) and a strike-rate 98.14. To be fair, these numbers are not acceptable and certainly not considering his high auction price of ₹27 crore, making him the most expensive player in IPL history.