Former Indian batter Mohammed Kaif believes there will be immense pressure on Rishabh Pant as a potential leader for Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2025. Pant was roped in for a whopping amount of 27 crore by LSG in the mega auction, making him the most expensive player in IPL history and he is expected to lead the team in the next season.
Meanwhile, KL Rahul was released by the franchise ahead of the auction and the wicket-keeper bat has been bagged by Delhi Capitals for INR 14 crore. Rahul led LSG to IPL playoffs on two occasions in the 2022 and 2023 seasons but there were questions on his future at the franchise after co-owner Sanjiv Goenka had a heated discussion with him after they suffered an embarrassing loss against SRH by 10 wickets in IPL 2024.
Kaif noted that the expectations will be huge from Pant if the management gives him the captaincy onus.
Kaif said on Star Sports, “Rishabh Pant will have to put in a lot of hard work because Lucknow comes in the top four. KL Rahul was taking them to the top four always, but he was still removed. Whatever might have been the talk between them, that they were not getting along, they wanted the team in the final as it’s been three years, so he was asked to go.”
“So they took Pant. There is a lot of pressure on Pant because he has to take the team to the top. It won’t work out just by taking the team into the top four. They were already coming in the top four repeatedly. He has been picked for a lot of money. Rishabh Pant has a point to prove that he can take the team into the top two as a leader,” Kaif observed.
On the other hand, Kaif highlighted that LSG didn’t bring quality international fast bowlers in the auction and it could be their weakness.
“They have built a good team. The one weakness I see is international fast bowlers. The batting is good. They have David Miller, Rishabh Pant, Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram. Spin bowling is also good. They have Ravi Bishnoi, M Siddharth and Shahbaz Ahmed,” he said.
“However, they couldn’t pick an international fast bowler who could guide Mayank Yadav and Mohsin Khan and work with Avesh Khan. Mayank Yadav bowls well and picks up wickets. They have got a talented bowler in him. However, every team has a bowler like Mitchell Starc or Josh Hazlewood, who brings international experience. That is missing in this team,” Kaif observed.
The IPL 2025 season will commence on March 14 and the final will take place on May 25.
