Time for Rishabh Pant to get going as Lucknow Super Giants’ hopes for making it to IPL playoffs is hanging on a thin line

Rishabh Pant will aim to hit the refresh button after a wretched run as Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) make one last ditch attempt to stay alive in Indian Premier League (IPL) play-offs race by winning their remaining three league matches, starting with clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) here Monday.

Last year’s finalists SRH are already out of contention and will be playing for pride while LSG have an outside chance of sneaking into the last-four if they can get to 16 points with three emphatic wins.

The likes of Nitish Kumar Reddy and Ishan Kishan wouldn’t mind some runs under their belt before they leave the sub-continental shores for India A’s tour of England.

However the bigger context is skipper Pant’s personal form which has nosedived since his record Rs 27 crore bidding at the IPL auctions last year.

Pant’s name is doing the rounds for the Test vice-captaincy and even though IPL is a different format, getting a few impactful innings and guiding the team to victory is always good optics just before any major announcement.

LSG will also want their main batter Nicholas Pooran (410 runs) to start firing once again as he had tapered off after a bright start in the first five or six games.

New Zealand seamer William O’ Rourke is a welcome addition in place of an injured Mayank Yadav, who is once again out for an indefinite period.

LSG’s bowling has also been below-par with only find of the season Digvesh Rathi (12 wickets @8.09 ER) being their standout performer. Ravi Bishnoi, an otherwise steady figure in LSG line-up has been severely off-colour, going for more than 10 runs an over. Big fast bowler Avesh Khan (10 wickets @10.10) has been inconsistent like every season while Test specialist Akash Deep had to be dropped after going at 12.25 per over in past four games.

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