Former South African captain AB de Villiers has backed Rishabh Pant to shine for Lucknow Super Giants in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League 2025. LSG broke the bank for Pant, purchasing him for a whopping amount of INR 27 crore in the IPL 2025 mega auction.
Recently, LSG appointed Pant as their new captain after they released KL Rahul. Pant has scored 3284 runs in 111 IPL matches at an average of 35.31 and a strike rate of 148.93. The wicket-keeper bat also has the experience of leading Delhi Capitals in the IPL.
AB de Villiers said on his YouTube Channel, “He’s [Rishabh Pant] a great player. I am excited to see him play at LSG. Mujhe lagta hai uske liye ye ek shandaar season hone wala hai (I reckon he will have a great season).”
AB reckons LSG has made the right decision in appointing Rishabh Pant as the new captain.
“Mujhe lagta hai ki yeh franchise ke liye ek shandaar kadam hai (I think it’s a great step for LSG franchise [on appointing Rishabh Pant as new captain]). I know what he brings to the party. He is energetic, optimistic, and [has the] ability to win a lot of games. He will lead from the front and by example. In terms of batting, he’s a positive and attacking player and that’s what LSG needs. He shows the boys how to do it and I am convinced the rest of the team will follow suit as well. He has a good squad, a settled team,” he added.
Pant led Delhi Capitals to 23 wins in 43 games and he would look to get the best out of his players at LSG.
IPL 2025 is all set to commence on March 21.
LSG SQUAD FOR IPL 2025
Batters: David Miller, Ayush Badoni, Matthew Breetzke, Himmat Singh, Aryan Juyal
Wicketkeepers: Rishabh Pant, Nicholas Pooran
All-rounders: Abdul Samad, Mitchell Marsh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Arshin Kulkarni, Yuvraj Choudhary, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Aiden Markram
Fast bowlers: Mayank Yadav, Avesh Khan, Akash Deep, Mohsin Khan, Shamar Joseph, Akash Singh, Prince Yadav
Spinners: Ravi Bishnoi, M Siddharth, Digvesh Singh
