Rishabh Pant scolds himself after recording a duck in the LSG vs RR match

Originally posted on Crictoday | Last updated Apr 22, 2026 12:55 PM ET

Rishabh Pant is the most expensive flop in the history of the Indian Premier League, and with every match in the 19th season, his reputation is going down, considering his flop show with the bat for Lucknow Super Giants. He is lacking in captaincy, and his batting has become a cause of concern for a team that spent INR 27 crore on his services.

In the LSG vs RR match in Lucknow, he once again played a shot that was never on and was caught by Dhruv Jurel on Nandre Burger's delivery. He faced three balls but failed to open his account. Chasing 160 on a challenging track, he had a responsibility to guide the run chase and allow other batters to take the charge, but his brain-fade moment put the franchise on its back foot from the start.

PIYUSH CHAWLA CRITICISED RISHABH PANT FOR POOR SHOT SELECTION

He say Pant didn’t respect the match situation when the team needed him. He pointed out that with the ball moving, Pant should have taken time to settle instead of attacking earlypic.twitter.com/rykyvmU6MY
— Sam (@Cricsam01) April 22, 2026

His departure stunned the commentators, who were surprised by his choice of shot in just the second over of the second innings.

Pant was furious and was seen scolding himself while returning to the dugout at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow in IPL 2026.

Earlier, opener Ayush Badoni was run out without opening his account, and the No.3 batter Aiden Markram suffered a similar fate when his catch on Jofra Archer's ball was caught by RR wicket-keeper, taking the score to 11 for 3 in 2.5 overs.

The problem with Pant is his habit of taking unnecessary risks, which are not needed from the first ball of his knock. His display has also impacted the LSG in the points table, and they are likely to miss the playoffs for the second time in a row under his captaincy. He is on thin ice, and the team management and owner could pull the plug after the conclusion of the season.

Earlier, Rajasthan Royals limped to 159/6 in their allotted 20 overs, with veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja accumulating 43 not out in 29 balls, including 2 fours and 1 six.

Yashasvi Jaiswal (22 off 12) and Shimron Hetmyer (22 off 18) also added runs to the total.

Mohammed Shami, Prince Yadav and Mohsin Khan took two wickets each.

This article first appeared on Crictoday and was syndicated with permission.

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