IPL 2025: Former Australian captain wants Rishabh Pant to give up wicketkeeping to focus on captaincy

Former Australian captain and commentator Aaron Finch has opened up on Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain Rishabh Pant’s failure as captain in the ongoing IPL 2025 season. Notably, LSG suffered a 37-run loss to the Punjab Kings on Sunday, May 4.

Speaking about Pant’s IPL 2025 batting stats, he accumulated only 128 runs from 10 innings at an average of 12.80 and a strike rate of 99.22, and one fifty-plus score. Finch feels Pant has to give up wicket-keeping to lead the team well.

“It’s probably very tough to lead a team while also keeping wickets. You only get a few seconds to talk to your bowlers, maybe 10 to 15 seconds between overs, especially with the over-rate clock running. That means someone like Nicholas Pooran, who’s usually positioned in front of the stumps, has to help pass on messages," Finch said on JioHotstar.

Moreover, Finch wants Pooran to take up the keeping gloves so that Pant gets to interact a bit more with bowlers. The former Australia batter asserted that communication could be really key for captains with bowlers these days.

“Maybe it’s a chance for him (Pant) to say, ‘Pooran, you handle the gloves for a match or two. I need to regain some rhythm and better connect with the bowling unit, so we can plan and manage the middle overs more effectively.’ Communication can be really tough when you're standing behind the stumps.” Finch said.

“But the game’s evolved quite a bit since then, I think. Everything moves much quicker now. Just a couple of deliveries can completely shift the momentum, so having regular communication with your bowler is crucial. You’ll often see Shreyas Iyer at mid-off, Shubman Gill at mid-on – there’s always someone nearby,” Finch concluded.

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