“No brain” – Rishabh Pant’s shot position races Srikkanth, Slams coach Justin Langer

If you were wondering, why Rishabh Pant isn’t batting ahead in the batting order for LSG in IPL 2025, then you aren’t alone. Even former India opener Kris Srikkanth can’t really believe, as to what is happening with the keeper-batsman. IN 10 matches, he has only scored 110 runs at an average of 12, and a strike-rate of 98.

Srikkanth is a miffed man, and has slammed coach Justin Langer for Pant’s bad performance. The 27-year-old has restricted himself mostly to middle-order and lower middle-order, where it’s too late for him. In the match against DC as well, he sent everyone before him, and by the time he got his chance, he had only two deliveries to face. There he got out for a duck, and in the dugout was seen having an animated chat with Zaheer Khan.

“I didn’t understand. Why did he come to bat for just two balls?” Srikkanth said on his YouTube show Cheeky Cheeka. “What’s Langer trying to do? What’s the team management trying to do? What is Zaheer Khan trying to do? I don’t know. Some people say Rishabh Pant wanted to go in to bat, but they didn’t allow him. But he is the captain. Why should he need anybody’s permission to go in? At the end of the day, it’s the team management’s decision. Everybody’s sitting there. Langer is also there. Doesn’t he have brains?” he added.

Right after the match, even Anil Kumble had made his feelings known. “It’s alright if you wanted to bat more freely under less pressure by coming in late, but this was way too late,” Kumble said on JioCinema. “The kind of frustration Rishabh is showing is evident that he was wronged. He probably wanted to bat higher. Was it his decision? Or was it coach Justin Langer’s, or maybe mentor Zaheer Khan’s? Whose decision was it? Because he looked very frustrated.”