After enduring his worst run with the bat in the Indian Premier League , Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant bounced back to form with an emphatic 54-ball century against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Lucknow on Tuesday.
Pant smashed an unbeaten 118 off 61 balls after walking out to bat at No 3 as LSG posted a commanding 227/3 after RCB’s stand-in skipper Jitesh Sharma opted to field at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in the final league match of the 18th IPL season.
The 27-year-old had scored just 151 runs in 13 matches earlier this season, including an unbeaten 16 off six balls in the 33-run victory over Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad – the first time he had finished unbeaten in IPL 2025.
Pant celebrates in style after ending barren run with a 54-ball century
And in the 70th and final league match of the season, Pant smashed 11 fours and eight sixes to bring up his second IPL century – having previously smashed an unbeaten 128 off 63 balls for Delhi Capitals against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium.
One of those fours, off Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s bowling in the 18th over, brought up the three-figure mark for Pant which was followed by a somersault celebration – which the wicketkeeper-batter would have been eagerly waiting for the entire season.
Watch the celebration here:
When he hits, they stay as hit 😍
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 27, 2025
A 𝗣𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 💯
Updates ▶ https://t.co/h5KnqyuYZE #TATAIPL | #LSGvRCB | @RishabhPant17 pic.twitter.com/Hka9HBgpFy
Despite the century, Pant finished the season with less than 300 runs for the first time since his debut in 2016, in which he had scored 198 runs in 10 outings at a strike rate of 130.26. The knock, however, serves to remind the Lucknow Super Giants management why he belongs to the top-order instead of at the middle, which is something they should keep in mind in the next season.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsPant also somewhat justified his record price tag of Rs 27 crore that LSG had shelled out in the mega auction in November, and silenced his critics by highlighting that class is indeed permanent.


)

)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
