Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain Rishabh Pant made a bold claim despite his team’s loss to Rajasthan Royals (RR) on May 19, 2026, in IPL 2026 in Jaipur. RR stand-in captain Yashasvi Jaiswal won the toss and chose to bowl first.
LSG began strongly, with Mitchell Marsh and Josh Inglis contributing 109 runs in 8.2 overs; Inglis fell for 60 runs, including 7 fours and three sixes. Marsh continued, while Nicholas Pooran was out for 18 runs. However, Rishabh Pant delivered some powerful strokes in his 23-ball 35.
Mitchell Marsh, however, stole the show in the LSG innings, scoring 96 in 57 balls with 11 fours and 5 sixes before being run out in the last over. LSG finished with 220/5 from 20 overs.
RR knew they needed to reduce this total to be in the playoff race, so Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi attacked the bowling from the first ball. Jaiswal scored 43 in 23 balls, including eight fours and one six, while Sooryavanshi smashed the ball into the crowd with amazing ease at the other end.
Dhruv Jurel joined Vaibhav, and they contributed 105 runs in the second innings, with Sooryavanshi leading the way for the RR side, scoring 93 in 38 balls with 10 sixes and seven fours.
Jurel took responsibility for getting RR past the finish line, scoring 53 unbeaten runs with three sixes and three fours. RR won the game by 7 wickets in the final over.
After the game, Rishabh Pant talked with the commentary team for the official broadcasters and made some bold claims.
“I think there are a few ways to look at it. In the middle overs and then in the last over, the way Archer bowled, I think it was really good. But we could have actually scored five or ten runs more on this kind of wicket when you get that kind of start, and we just couldn’t capitalize in the last over,” Pant stated while talking to official broadcasters.
“It’s definitely a difficult one for sure because you always want to back your bowlers, but sometimes it’s hard. On a wicket like this, there is less margin for the bowlers, and having too many suggestions doesn’t work out. Sometimes you have to keep a simple plan, keep focusing on one ball at a time, and just try to execute the plan,” he added, when asked about defending the total.
He was then asked about the LSG team and their morale, despite having only 4 wins from 13 games and their 10th spot in the IPL 2026 points table. Pant made a bold claim and stated that the results don’t take away the fact that LSG was a good team.
“Like I said, we are proud as a team regardless of what our situation is right now. The kind of team we have, we know we can win this. Regardless of anything, we are confident enough as a team and as individuals. It hasn’t gone our way, and everyone knows that, but that doesn’t take away the fact that we are a f**king good team,” Pant concluded.
