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LSG skipper Rishabh Pant smashed a helicopter flick and a one-handed pull against CSK to score his first half-century of IPL 2025.
Snippets from Rishabh Pant’s helicopter shot vs CSK. (PC: IPL/X)
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) skipper Rishabh Pant hit two most extraordinary shots against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to bring up his first half-century of IPL 2025 on Monday (April 14). The first was a brutal helicopter flick — the MS Dhoni trademark with the India legend standing behind the stumps — and the second was a one-handed pull which he somehow managed to time past deep square leg.
The shots came in the 18th over of the first innings after Dhoni won the toss and asked LSG to bat first. The first ball was full and straight from Matheesha Pathirana and Pant whipped the flick sweetly for a 79-metre six. He took a double on the next ball and Pathirana tested him with a short one on the third. Pant took on the pull and managed to time it almost perfectly, despite one hand coming off in the follow through.
Watch the video of the two shots here:
Eventually, Pathirana got him out on the second ball of the 20th over. Pant will feel much better after getting his first 50-plus score of the season, considering his poor form in the leadup to this match.
However, despite his performance, LSG could only put up a sub-par 166/7 in the first innings. For CSK, Pathirana and Ravindra Jadeja picked up two wickets each.
“The wicket was very good, the ball wasn’t gripping at all as there’s dew around,” Jadeja said in the mid-innings break, as quoted by Cricbuzz. “Tried to bowl in good areas, was thinking what the batsman was going to do. Just kept changing my line and length. I knew they were going to play over square or play the reverse sweep, I was keeping that in my mind and bowling accordingly. The wicket is very good, think the bowlers need to be disciplined. The outfield is very quick. They (LSG batters) have been in good rhythm, so I tried to bowl simple and tight lines. I might bat higher today, we just need to play good cricketing shots.”
