Rishabh Pant's 'delaying' tactics in dramatic last over vs RR draws comparison to T20 World Cup final
While Avesh Khan won plaudits for his extraordinary yorker barrage in the death overs, Mohammed Kaif said that Rishabh Pant's tactics should not be overlooked.
Lucknow Super Giants' (LSG) pulled a rabbit out of their hat to beat the Rajasthan Royals (RR) by two wickets in the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) . While Avesh Khan has rightly earned most of the plaudits as his stunning display of death-over bowling put the breaks on the Royals, former India batter Mohammed Kaif has said that LSG captain Rishabh Pant's tactics to keep the pressure on the batters in the last over should not be overlooked.
In a video that he posted on his X handle, Kaif noted the amount of time Pant made sure the batter had to wait for each delivery in the last over. RR needed just nine runs to win at the start of it. "The final over began at 11.07pm IST, and it went on for 10 minutes, where There were some intentional delaying tactics. Rishabh Pant took his time, the ball got changed, Avesh Khan was stopped in his run-up once, they intentionally kept the batters waiting at the crease," Kaif said on X.
Kaif said that this was similar to what Pant did during the final of the 2024 T20 World Cup. "Also, this is not the first time this is happening. In the 2024 T20 World Cup final, when 30 runs were needed off 30 balls, and when Klaasen and Miller were on strike, it was Rishabh Pant only who lied down on the floor to summon the physios," Kaif added.
On that occassion, South Africa needed just 30 runs to win off the last five overs against India. The latter however applied an almighty chokehold and won their first T20 World Cup since 2007. Similarly, RR needed just 46 to win off the last five overs with eight wickets in hand. Avesh then turned it around by taking a couple of big wickets in 18th over and conceding just two runs. He then got another in the last and conceded just seven runs.
