NEW DELHI: Captain Rishabh Pant on Monday acknowledged that the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) struggled to fill the gaps left by injured key bowlers, as their six-wicket defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) ended their hopes of making the IPL 2025 playoffs.
The defeat marked the end of a challenging campaign for LSG, whose bowling unit remained under pressure throughout the season due to multiple injury setbacks.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!"Definitely it could have been one of our best seasons but coming into the tournament we had a lot of gaps, injuries and as a team we decided to not talk about that, but it became difficult to fill those gaps for us," Pant told the broadcaster after the loss.
LSG were plagued by injuries even before the tournament began, with Mohsin Khan, Avesh Khan, Akash Deep, and Mayank Yadav sidelined. Though they roped in Shardul Thakur mid-season and saw Avesh and Akash return to action, Mayank’s participation was limited to just a couple of games before injury ruled him out again.
"The way we planned the auction, if we would have had the same bowling.. but this is cricket, sometimes things go your way and sometimes they don't, we take pride in the way we played and take the positives from the season than the negative side."
Despite his own struggles with the bat, Pant pointed to LSG's batting strength as a major takeaway.
"We have a strong batting line up, have enough firepower and that is the biggest positive for the season," he said.
Reflecting on the campaign, Pant admitted the team couldn’t keep up with rivals as the playoff race intensified.
"The first half of the season we played really well but the second half it became tougher and tougher to catch up with the teams on the brighter side," he added.
He also lauded young spinner Digvesh Rathi’s emergence as a bright spot in an otherwise underwhelming campaign.
"(Digvesh) Rathi has come up nicely for us, his first season, the way he bowled, he is one of the positives, but you need to keep improving yourself and get better and better as the seasons go," Pant noted.
Get IPL 2025 match schedules, squads, points table, and live scores for CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, LSG, DC, GT, PBKS, and RR. Check the latest IPL Orange Cap and Purple Cap standings.The TOI Sports Desk excels in a myriad of roles that capture the ...
Read MoreThe TOI Sports Desk excels in a myriad of roles that capture the essence of live sporting events and deliver compelling content to readers worldwide.
From running live blogs for India and non-India cricket matches to global spectacles featuring Indian talents, like the Chess World Cup final featuring Praggnanandhaa and the Badminton World Championships semifinal featuring HS Prannoy, our live coverage extends to all mega sporting events. We extensively cover events like the Olympics, Asian Games, Cricket World Cups, FIFA World Cups, and more.
The desk is also adept at writing comprehensive match reports and insightful post-match commentary, complemented by stats-based articles that provide an in-depth analysis of player performances and team dynamics.
We track news wires for key stories, conduct exclusive player interviews in both text and video formats, and file content from print editions and reporters. We keep track of all viral stories, trending topics and produce our own copies on the subjects.
We deliver accurate, engaging, and up-to-the-minute sports content, round the clock.
Read Less