When Vijay Shankar was dismissed by Lucknow Super Giants’ Digvesh Rathi, you contemplated upon a couple of questions. When will Rishabh Pant, the LSG skipper, change the ball, especially with some dew coming into play? And when will Pant bowl out Ravi Bishnoi, his best bowler for the day? The point gained even more importance with MS Dhoni taking strike. The veteran wicketkeeper-batter has an excellent strike rate against pace bowling since the start of IPL 2024. But his strike rate of just over 115 versus spin, in that period, pales in comparison.
It just took one more over for Pant and co. to opt for a different ball. However, astonishingly, Bishnoi’s full quota of overs was never used. All that the spinner could do was watch Dhoni weave his magic in the slog overs, and in the company of Shivam Dube, steer Chennai Super Kings home. On a track that was offering some grip, and with Dhoni at the crease, it was difficult to fathom the logic behind such a move.
The only reasoning behind such a school of thought could have been that Dube was still at the crease. Dube has gained a reputation of being a power-hitter against spin. However, on a track where most of the spinners were extracting more than 1.5 degrees of average turn, it would have taken a brave man to bet on the southpaw tonking a string of sixes.
“We discussed with a lot of players, but we couldn’t take him (Bishnoi) deeper, that (bowling his last over) didn’t happen today,” said Pant to the host broadcaster when asked about why Bishnoi bowled just three overs.
In Pant’s defence, he has shown leadership qualities by guiding the side to four wins despite the set-up being plagued by injuries to key pacers. Mayank Yadav has still not played a game this season, while Mohsin Khan was ruled out of the tournament. Avesh Khan himself missed a few games. Just that, on occasions, his tactical acumen has come under criticism.
Despite a few flaws in relation to his captaincy smarts, the LSG camp would be gladdened by Pant getting back to some kind of form with the bat. On a tricky deck, he batted almost right through the innings and accumulated a 49-ball 63. The central point of his batting was how he paddled through phases where he found it quite tough to shift gears.
In fact, at the completion of the 17th over, Pant was scoring at just over run-a-ball. In the nick of time, Pant landed a couple of meaty blows to not just ramp up his strike rate but also propel his side to a competitive total. This innings may not even be a footnote in Pant’s future autobiography, but in the prevailing circumstances, it was a much-needed knock. More so in the backdrop of Pant having aggregated a mere 40 runs in his first five innings of the tournament.
Ultimately, it turned out to be a day of mixed fortunes for the LSG skipper: His side came second-best while being up against a vintage MS Dhoni performance. The one silver lining amid a sea of fans wearing yellow jerseys is that he now has some runs under his belt.