Ravi Bishnoi not bowling the final over has stirred debate after Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) faced a narrow defeat against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Despite his impressive bowling figures of 3-0-18-2, Ravi Bishnoi was surprisingly not given his fourth over.
The leg-spinner removed Rahul Tripathi and Ravindra Jadeja and delivered nine dot balls in his spell. Yet, captain Rishabh Pant chose pace over spin in the death overs, possibly eyeing the threat posed by Shivam Dube. CSK overcome the threat of yet another defeat and won the match by 5 wickets against LSG.
Rishabh Pant’s confident knock offered resistance
While LSG struggled to post a big total, Rishabh Pant’s composed innings of 63 runs in 49 balls held the middle order together and had struck 4 fours and 4 sixes. His steady knock provided some much-needed stability, ensuring LSG crossed the 160-mark. However, it wasn’t enough against CSK’s calculated chase.
Ravi Bishnoi & Rishabh Pant’s different opinions
Rishabh Pant’s preference for pace over Ravi Bishnoi’s spin raised eyebrows, especially since CSK’s MS Dhoni has had limited success against spinners in the death overs in recent IPL matches. Ravi Bishnoi admitted while having an interaction with the media that he wasn’t briefed about the decision but respected his captain’s judgment.
“I didn’t really talk [to Pant] about it, but I went to the wicket a couple of times [to check] and I think he had plans in place he wanted to execute,” Bishnoi said. “In such situations, the captain is better placed, and he keeps wicket, too, so he understands things better. According to me, he took the decision he thought was better.”
Pant later explained that several players were consulted, and the team opted to “take it deeper” without giving Bishnoi his final over.
“There was a lot of time when I thought about bowling him [Bishnoi] that [fourth] over,” Pant said. “But we discussed with a lot of players and just couldn’t let him bowl. We thought let’s take it deeper, and that didn’t happen for us today.”
LSG’s Final Overs Plan Falls Apart
By the 15th over, CSK needed 56 runs, with Dhoni joining Dube. Despite dew on the outfield, Pant stuck with Avesh Khan and Shardul Thakur, both seamers. The plan fell apart when Dhoni capitalized on pace deliveries, scoring quickly, and Dube added to the damage with timely boundaries.
Historical evidence showed that spinners like Theekshana, Axar Patel, and Chahal had previously contained Dhoni effectively in similar scenarios. Yet, LSG opted against spin at the death — a move that could have changed the outcome.