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Former Team India cricketer Wasim Jaffer offered advice for Lucknow Super Giants skipper Rishabh Pant, suggesting that he should work on improving his strike rotation.
Pant, who had endured a quiet campaign so far in the ongoing IPL 2025 season, finally found some rhythm, scoring 63 runs off 49 balls. His knock played a crucial role in helping LSG post 166 on the board, especially after the run rate slowed down following the 10-over mark.
However, Jaffer highlighted a concerning aspect of Pant’s batting, his tendency to favour the leg side. He pointed out that Pant’s only straight six came towards the end of the match against the Chennai Super Kings.
“I feel he never looks to hit straight; he always looks to go towards the leg side — towards square leg, cow corner. He hit one straight six right towards the end [against CSK]. Otherwise, at the start of the innings, he was always looking to go towards the leg side, or that reverse scoop that he played — but that was the only thing,” Jaffer said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
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Emphasising the importance of strike rotation, Jaffer added: “I don’t know whether he looks to do that [rotate strike]; Kohli is a master at that. He gets off strike so nicely, as he can play all around. But Pant sometimes does get stuck, and that’s the issue. Then he goes for that big shot. I just feel he needs to get better at rotating strike as well.”
Pant came in to bat at number four after LSG lost two early wickets. He appeared to struggle against CSK’s Noor Ahmad, facing 15 deliveries from the left-arm spinner, 10 of which were dot balls.
However, Pant found some fluency against the pace-on offerings from Matheesha Pathirana and Khaleel Ahmed, accelerating to a 42-ball half-century, which included two sixes. He attempted to finish strong but was eventually dismissed by Pathirana in the final over.
LSG’s next IPL 2025 fixture is against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) on April 19 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
(With ANI Inputs)
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