Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) head coach Justin Langer has backed his skipper Rishabh Pant despite his poor return in IPL 2025. Pant has scored 151 runs in 13 games at an average of 13.73 so far this season.
He inspired his team to a win over the Gujarat Titans (GT) on Thursday by 33 runs.LSG posted 235 runs for the loss of two wickets in their 20 overs against GT. The charge was led by Mitchell Marsh who scored his first IPL ton.
Nicholas Pooran (56* runs off 27 balls) finally found some form after going through a lean patch in the second half of the season. Rishabh Pant played an important cameo, scoring 16 runs off six deliveries.
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We All Know What He Has Been Through - Justin Lager On Rishab Pant
GT, despite trying their best fell well short of the target. This was the first match for them this season when their top three did not score too many runs. The pressure was visible on the middle-order who could not score the runs needed in the back half of the match.
After LSG's victory in the game head coach Justin Langer praised Pant for the way he has led the side so far this season. Langer lauded Pant'a character and his leadership within the squad. Langer spoke about the tough days Pant saw in his recent past and how he recovered from them.
"You always judge a person's character by how they go through tough times. And Rishabh's stayed consistent the whole way through. I really respect that. We all know what he's been through over the last couple of years, but he keeps stepping up, he keeps performing, he wants to get out in the middle, and he wants to keep fighting hard for the boys," Langer said during the live broadcast after LSG's win over GT.
"So from that point of view, he's done a really good job. You would not know, and that's a sign of a really strong person," he added.
While LSG could not make the playoffs, Langer was happy with the core of the side and said that it will be nice to finish on a high. Lucknow defeated Gujarat in their penultimate game and will face RCB in their final game looking to bag a win as well.
"I mean, there's always something to play for. There are guys who haven’t had great seasons who want to showcase their talents, and as a team, we respect that we haven't been at our best the last few games. There's no excuse for that, but we want to show that we've got a very good core. We've got a closely-knit team. There's no doubt about that. So it’d be nice to finish off strongly," Langer said.
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LSG Look To Finish On A High At Home
Lucknow will finish their IPL 2025 campaign by playing at home against RCB on May 27.
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