India's explosive wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant said on Tuesday that he wants to "switch off" for a few days when his IPL 2025 campaign is over so that he can leave for the Test trip to England in a "good frame of mind."
In the final league match of the 2025 Indian Premier League, Pant put on an incredible display, striking a magnificent century (118* off 61 balls) to lead the Lucknow Super Giants to 227 for three against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He added 152 runs with Mitchell Marsh, who made 67 runs.
However, Jitesh Sharma’s 85*, Virat Kohli’s 54, and Mayank Agarwal’s 41* RCB chased down the total with 6 wickets in hand. With this, RCB made it into Qualifier 1, where they will clash with PBKS on May 29.
Talking to official broadcasters after the match, Rishabh Pant stated that now, for a few days, he’ll just switch off and not talk or think about cricket. Pant will be on flight to the UK with Indian team for the five-Test series against England. Pant was also recently named the new India Test vice-captain.
“Just want to switch off for a few days, not think about cricket, and then the England series is coming up and just preparing for that in a good frame of mind," Pant stated after the match.
The LSG captain lamented the absence of key bowlers for a significant portion of the season due to injuries.
“Eventually, you have to play 40 overs of good cricket. 20 overs will not save you in a T20 game, and that’s been our story. We faced many injury issues before the tournament, and that affected us throughout the season," Pant noted.
Express pace bowler Mayank Yadav was out for the majority of the campaign, and left-arm seamer Mohsin Khan missed the entire season for LSG. Mayank returned for a short while, but he didn't seem ready and was sidelined once more due to a back issue.
Pant regained his form after a lackluster season, hitting eight sixes and eleven fours in his outstanding innings.
“I was feeling better with each match, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out. Today, I ensured that if I started well, I should make it big, just as experienced players do, learning from the best. Whenever you get a start, try to make it as big as possible. I focused on how they were going to bowl and tried to play the field. I kept it simple, playing through the line, looking for the areas and gaps. I played every ball with the same intensity and maintained that intensity throughout the innings," Pant explained.
(PTI inputs)
