IPL 2025: Lord Shardul Thakur and Kohinoor Rishabh Pant plot efficient LSG victory

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So, the Nawab of Lucknow, Rishabh Pant, lived up to the label of being a captain with flair with feel and wanting to break the stereotype. On Thursday night in Hyderabad, the new Lucknow Super Giants skipper was brave in winning the toss and fielding against the potent batting might of Sunrisers Hyderabad.

It was a decision pregnant with risks, or so we thought. But then, like his Guru, or should we say mentor, MS Dhoni, Pant hinted he was willing to 'gamble' and bowl first. Lest one think the word 'gamble' has anything to do with illegitimate stuff, the reference is to Pant challenging the stereotype.

After all, the same Hyderabad had produced a belter, where, in the previous match, Sunrisers had pounded runs, almost near 300, and won. For those who said this was a different track, that's bilge. You cannot have tracks, so different, at the same venue.

And if that be the case, how did Lord Shardul Thakur come up with such an incisive four-over spell where he won hearts of fans and at the same time destroyed the Sunrisers' batters' confidence.

To take four wickets in an IPL match is big, given the way bowlers are being hammered for runs. When Thakur went unsold in the IPL auction, it was sad. With the regular, hyped fast bowlers of LSG, bought at big prices still in the recovery ward in BCCI's Bengaluru medical wing, Lord Shardul, a name he has earned for the right reasons, swung into action.

It is not easy to be a fast bowler in the IPL. One bad over can make or mar the reputation where the batters will blow you to smithereens. Well, Shardul showed a large heart and rhythm to remind many, the BCCI selectors included, he is not a wastrel but a bowler with skills.

Almost everyone has seen how he bowled, after having been told by none other than ZAK - Zaheer Khan - a few days before the IPL began that he should be ready to come out firing. That Thakur did very well in the second match for LSG.

A loss in the first match and to bounce back in the second match, away from home, even LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka, who is infamous for his hire-and-fire policy was left embracing Pant. For those who feel Goenka loves only winners, why curse him.

Franchise owners spend a fortune from the auction funds to pick/buy a player. For LSG, Pant is like that Kohinoor, which was stolen and taken away by the Brits when they ruled India. That's bad history, though this Kohinoor, Pant showed, he is brave and will do stuff which will grab eyeballs.

Back to Thakur, bowling to batters like Travis Head (47) runs, Abhisek Sharma (6), Ishan Kishan (0) and company was not easy. The SRH top order is easily heavy artillery in the IPL. Another man who also lent support to Shardul Thakur was Prince Yadav.

Unheard and unsung Prince, true to his name, has been nurtured by Pant in the Delhi Premier League where he played under the former Delhi Capitals for Purani Delhi 6 team. Before one raises eyebrows and asks what the DPL is, it did produce some fine cricket in 2024. Prince has also emerged from it and now is able to sustain the pressure of the IPL, where batters turn marauders.

As for the LSG batting, Pant may not have scored big runs, but what was more important, LSG played to potential. Trust Mitch Marsh and Nicholas Pooran to score big against the prosaic SRH attack, where Mohd Shami and even skipper Pat Cummins were not in great form.

Cummins will find his rhythm, soon, but Shami looks like a ghost of the past. Pant fell for 15 but that's no shame. He led bravely and this template will be watched with closely. He has a lot to prove, since current India coach Gautam Gambhir does not seem to convinced about Pant's T20 skills as a wicket-keeper.