The following words can be used to describe Rishabh Pant’s dismissal against Punjab Kings in the 2025 Indian Premier League – His willow ended up somewhere at square leg, and the ball in Shashank Singh’s hands at deep point. Basically, the bat finished up some 40 yards away from the fielding position where Shashank took the catch.
As Pant looked heavenwards, muttered a few words to himself and trudged back to the pavilion, all one could think of was his poor form in the ongoing IPL – 128 runs at an average of 12.80, and at a strike rate of just 99.22. So, what has gone wrong for Pant? Is it because the opposition teams have chiseled out ways to dislodge him? Maybe he isn’t the same player that he used to be before the accident?
For starters, let’s zoom in on his last seven dismissals in this IPL – He has lost his wicket five times to the seamers and twice while facing the spinners. Be it his latest dismissal or the ones against Prasidh Krishna, Matheesha Pathirana and Mukesh Kumar, it is evident that it has come down to not being able to play enough shots through the offside.
The pace bowlers have generally tried to angle it away from Pant from over the wicket, with an intention to force him to essay shots through the offside. With Pant mostly attempting to crack strokes through the on-side, on occasions, his top hand has come off the handle. It is also an indicator of bottom-hand dominance. In a nutshell, the plan is to bowl defensive lines. He was a tad unlucky to be dismissed by Hardik Pandya as the ball stopped on him, but in that case too the MI skipper had pulled his length back.
While facing the spinners, Pant has looked t0 manufacture reverse hits in order to explore areas behind the wicket on the offside. With Pant, there has always been a school of thought that he is relatively better against attacking lines/lengths and attacking fields. That could be one of the reasons why he has had a lot more success in Test cricket. Incidentally, in the recent Test series in Australia, the home side had employed more of an in-and-out field against Pant and reaped the rewards.
It is true that the tragic accident Pant suffered in December 2022 might have restricted his movements. At the highest level, even if a batter’s movements are a fraction slower, it could mean the death knell of his/her career. There is also the added pressure of having to match the price tag. The mercurial wicketkeeper-batter was bought for a whopping 27 crore by Lucknow Super Giants at the auction.
Rishabh Pant is only 27. So, he still has enough time left in his career to carve out a way and find his mojo in the shortest format. Meanwhile, as fans, all that we can do is to keep our fingers-crossed and hope that Pant would erase the poor performances from his mind, and once more leave opposition teams in a state of daze with his blinding brilliance.
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