Legendary Sunil Gavaskar has put his weight behind Rishabh Pant to bounce back stronger after Lucknow Super Giants suffered a one-wicket loss against Delhi Capitals on Monday. Pant had a horrible day at work while leading Lucknow Super Giants for the first time in IPL 2025 against his former team, Delhi Capitals.

The left-hander could only manage a six-ball duck when his team was in a commanding position. Furthermore, Pant missed a tough stumping chance in the final over when the ball ricocheted off Mohit Sharma’s pads.

Gavaskar said Pant would learn from his mistakes and he would lead with aplomb once he gets runs under his belt.

Gavaskar said on JioHotstar, “I think he knows. He actually mentioned in the post-match interview that you often learn more from your mistakes than from your successes. When you bat well, there’s not much to reflect upon, but when you don’t perform with the bat or ball, you understand the areas that need improvement. This is just the first match, and there are 13 more to go.”

The former Indian captain added, “Rishabh Pant is an intelligent cricketer, and he will have picked up valuable insights regarding his batting and captaincy. I believe we will see an improved performance from him. Additionally, when a captain scores runs or takes wickets, it significantly boosts their confidence in making bowling changes and setting the field. Once he gets some runs under his belt, I expect his captaincy to become even more assured.”

Meanwhile, Ashutosh Sharma scored an unbelievable knock of 66 runs off just 31 balls to help his team get over the line in the run-chase of 210. Sharma scored 20 runs off the first 20 balls he faced but changed gears to score the next 46 runs off just 11 balls. 

Lucknow Super Giants will next take on Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad on Thursday.