“He should talk to him” - Virender Sehwag’s advice for Rishabh Pant after another failure in PBKS vs LSG IPL 2025 match

Former India batter Virender Sehwag has urged Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain Rishabh Pant to seek advice from MS Dhoni amid a disastrous run of form in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. The wicket-keeper batter perished for just 18 runs during the 37-run loss to the Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on Sunday, May 4.

Barring a fifty against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Rishabh Pant does not have much to show for with the bat in this season. During the recent clash against PBKS, Pant came out to bat inside the powerplay itself after a stunning opening spell by Arshdeep Singh with the new ball.

Hopes were entirely pinned on Pant as the top order were back in the hunt with only 27 runs on the board, while LSG were tasked with chasing down a mammoth 237-run target.

The southpaw scored a six off Marco Jansen in the early stages of the innings, and took on Chahal right after the powerplay. But, in between, there was a lot of tentativeness, leading to dot balls and pressure. Playing barely over run-a-ball, he tried to break the shackles by stepping out and slogging against Azmatullah Omarzai in the eighth over.

However, the ball went in a different direction from where he intended to place it, and the bat also slipped from his hands, landing in the outfield. Shashank Singh took a comfortable catch in the deep to prolong Pant's misery in IPL 2025.

Sehwag advised Pant to watch videos of when he was in full flow, and also to ask for help from the people whom he looks up to.

"According to me, he should watch videos of himself batting when he used to make runs in the IPL. You get confidence from watching that, you remember how you used to go about your innings. Sometimes what happens is that you deviate from your routine. This is a different Rishabh Pant we are seeing after his injury," Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.

"He has a phone. He can pick that up and call whomever he wants. If he feels that mentally he is not thinking right, then there are so many cricketers that can help him. If he considers Dhoni as his role model, then he should talk to him," the former batter added.

Rishabh Pant has scored only 128 runs in 11 matches at an average of 12.80 and a strike rate of 99.22. LSG are losing their way in the campaign since the skipper's form is not picking up, while the likes of Mitchell Marsh and Nicholas Pooran are also not able to chip in.

"You can't expect them to do the heavy job every time" - Rishabh Pant on LSG's top-order collapse against PBKS in IPL 2025

The top three of Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, and Nicholas Pooran have scored the bulk of the runs for LSG this season. The middle-order has not been able to match that level of scoring, with only sporadic performances to show for throughout the season.

Rishabh Pant's lack of contribution is also a major concern behind LSG's decline in the campaign, as they have now lost three matches in a row.

"If we win the next three games, we can still make it so the dream is still alive. See it makes sense when your top order is batting well. You can't expect them to do the heavy job everytime. We had too many runs too catch up and it cost us," Rishabh Pant told the broadcasters after the defeat to PBKS.

LSG will face table-toppers, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), next at the Ekana Stadium on Friday, May 9.