“He’s still yet to totally understand the white-ball game” - Former India coach’s brutal take on Rishabh Pant amid IPL 2025 form

Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar has questioned Rishabh Pant’s white-ball credentials after a poor showing in the IPL 2025 season. This came after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) temporarily suspended the league on Friday, May 9, amid tensions at the India-Pakistan border.

The 52-year-old believes the wicketkeeper-batter is still a work in progress in the limited-over formats. The remarks came in the wake of Pant’s poor performance for the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in IPL 2025 after being picked for a whopping INR 27 crore at the mega auction last year, making him the costliest player in the league's history. Bangar, however, lauded Pant for his exploits in Test cricket.

Pant has managed just 128 runs in 10 innings at an average of 12.80 and a strike rate of 99.22, including a solitary fifty, in IPL 2025.

Bangar told Star Sports on Friday (via Times Now):

“We have to recognise that he's still yet to totally understand the white-ball game - both formats, 50-over cricket as well as T20 cricket. A fabulous Test match batter, make no mistake about it, but here in this particular season, what I noticed is that he got out a number of times looking to play shots behind the wicket."

Notably, Pant is no longer a first-choice player in T20Is and ODIs. Sanju Samson and KL Rahul have replaced him in the two white-ball formats.

Rishabh Pant’s stats in international cricket:

In ODIs: 871 runs in 31 matches at an average of 33.50

In T20Is: 1209 runs in 76 games, averaging 23.25

In Tests: 2948 runs in 43 matches at an average of 42.11

“Not in a great position to play” – Sanay Bangar points out technical flaws in Rishabh Pant’s batting

Sanjay Bangar further pointed out the technical flaws in Rishabh Pant’s batting, especially his lack of shots in the V-region. In the same interview, the coach-turned-commentator said:

“If you do look to score down the ground a lot of times, then all those other areas open up. But if you're only looking to score behind, then whatever is in front of you, you sort of are very much late and not in a great position to play.”

“Now, you pull out the best innings of Rishabh - where has he looked to score the runs? Drives through covers, step down the track and try to hit the sightscreen or go over midwicket, square. But here, he was trying to play those reverse sweeps or shots that are very fine. So as a batter, I think probably he just got caught in that confusion and forgot that his best game, or that he plays at his best, is when he's looking to score down the ground,” he added.

Rishabh Pant will now look to return to form ahead of the five-match Test series in England, which starts on June 20.