Former English captain Michael Vaughan has said that if Rishabh Pant does not have any clarity in the toss before the SRH vs LSG match then he should not even be called the captain. This statement came after the toss at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
Rishabh Pant led Lucknow Super Giants in style; However, with many big names like Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran in the side, you cannot call him the most successful captain of the new franchise. They also started this season with a defeat in the first game against Delhi Capitals.
In contrast, Ishan Kishan has managed to win his first game as Sunrisers captain. He was given the captaincy citing his good record with Jharkhand in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
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Rishabh Pant criticized for lack of clarity in the toss
In the first game of the tournament, Rishabh Pant came out to open the innings for Lucknow Super Giants. He decided to promote himself to the top of the order and opened the innings with all-rounder Mitchell Marsh.
Despite setting the stage on fire last season for the LSG team, Aiden Markram was demoted to the middle order. When Pant failed to make the required impact and was out at the non-striker’s end, he claimed that the chances of him opening in the next game would be “50-50”.
After the toss, when Pant was asked whether he would open the innings against Sunrisers too, he immediately replied, “We will see.” This lack of clarity has led to massive controversy in his camp.
Maybe he is not the captain at all – Michael Vaughan
Former England captain Michael Vaughan believed that as a team captain he should have a clear mind and Pant’s answer should have shown certainty about his batting position. He also expressed doubt on Pant’s leadership ability.
“It’s probably going to be quite controversial. He might not be the captain at all. Maybe. Because if he’s talking that language at the toss, you know, if you’re the captain at the toss, are you going to do that… absolutely. You make it very clear what you’re going to do. No, I’m batting three today,” Vaughan said on Cricbuzz.
“Because as a leader your job is to give complete definition in terms of clarity. And that’s why you are not hiding anything in the toss. The team has been selected. Maybe that is one of the issues, just saying,” he said.
Rishabh Pant took two brilliant catches for LSG.
While keeping wickets, Rishabh Pant took two brilliant catches for Lucknow Super Giants. Pant showed his strength as the best wicketkeeper in the race to make it to Team India. He took a brilliant catch at first to dismiss Liam Livingstone.
After that smart catch early in the innings, Pant took an unexpected catch by diving to his right and dismissed the hard-hitting Heinrich Klaasen, who attempted to slog the first ball of the 19th over of the game.
His one-handed catch ended the innings of Klaasen, who had managed to take Sunrisers to a big score. This helped restrict Lucknow Super Giants to a low score; Otherwise, the score would have gone beyond 160-170 runs. The century partnership between Klaasen and Reddy helped them post a promising total.
Also read: ‘Gautam Gambhir has a personal grudge against Mohammed Shami’: Fans demand the fast bowler’s recall to India after a stellar performance in IPL 2026
