It was a ‘friends became foes’ encounter in the 2025 edition of the IPL as Rishabh Pant was playing against the Delhi Capitals for the first time after being with the Delhi Capitals for nine seasons. Pant’s LSG, however, lost the game in the final over with Ashutosh Sharma smashing a 31-ball 66*.
It was a game of the exes in the IPL, there will be many this season given all the changes and swaps at the mega auction, with Delhi Capitals now led by Axar Patel against the Lucknow Super Giants with Rishabh Pant at the helm, who spent nine seasons with the Delhi franchise. KL Rahul wasn’t there as he was with his wife for the birth of his first child but it wasn’t an auspicious start for the new LSG captain Pant as Delhi Capitals pulled off a miraculous heist in the final over with just one wicket remaining.
Ashutosh Sharma stood tall till the end to stay unbeaten on 66 off just 31 and take his side to a win in their first game of the season. Delhi lost a lot of wickets in the powerplay and continued to do that through the innings at regular intervals and Ashutosh had to really dig deep. Running out of partners, Ashutosh was at the whim of the lower order to take a single and provide him the strike. However, at one point, in the 19th over, looking for a single, Kuldeep Yadav guided a short delivery from Prince Yadav for a boundary.
However, a couple of balls later, in order to steal a bye, Kuldeep was run out before Ashutosh with the help of Mohit Sharma sealed the deal for the Capitals.
After the match, Axar, Kuldeep and Pant sat and chatted about the game and both of them poked fun at the spinner’s batting. Watch the video here:
Here’s how the interaction went:
Pant: Single le raha tha, chauka maar gaya (He was taking a single, but ended up hitting a four)
Kuldeep: Mera kaam tha single lena (My job was to take the single)
Kuldeep: Usne di bhi toh bani banai ball (He only gave a slot ball)
Pant: Ek hi toh shot aata hai (You know only one shot)
Axar: Main wahi toh keh raha hun, ek hi toh shot aata hai (That is what I was saying, he knows only one shot)
Pant had a poor say with the bat and in the field too while Axar bowled an economical spell and was able to play a quick cameo of 22 off 11 to keep Delhi on course. Kuldeep also bowled beautifully and picked a couple of wickets with the ball.
