It seems the recent spate of poor scores has affected Rishabh Pant’s confidence both as a batter and as the captain of Lucknow Super Giants this season. That was quite evident in their eight-wicket defeat to Delhi Capitals here on Tuesday. 

Dropped himself to No. 7

It was rather bizarre that he dropped himself down the batting order to No. 7 and some of the tactics he used in the game defied logic. The decision to send Abdul Samad ahead of himself and Ayush Badoni, and using Badoni as an Impact player, thus closing the door on a fit-again Mayank Yadav to be used as an Impact bowler when DC were chasing has left the experts scratching their heads. Of course, the decisions must have been taken in consultation with mentor Zaheer Khan and chief coach Justin Langer, but it’s Pant the skipper who has to face the flak.