‘Throwing the management under the bus’ – Pollock lambasts LSG skipper Rishabh Pant after KKR loss

Former South African all-rounder Shaun Pollock has criticised Rishabh Pant for his statement about multiple voices in the team after the Lucknow Super Giants’ loss to the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Ekana Stadium on the evening of April 26.

Speaking after the Super Giants’ loss to the Kolkata Knight Riders in a super over, Pant was blunt in his assessment of the game, vocally calling out the instructions coming from the dugout when asked about the decision to give the final over of the innings to Digvesh Rathi. Rinku Singh smashed four sixes off Digvesh’s over, with the over going for 26 runs that helped the Knight Riders reach a competitive total of 155/7.

“See, there are always times in cricket where you can change things a little, but sometimes bowlers have to bowl those tough overs. And there will be times when I have to use them in the middle overs because I was looking for a wicket. I just didn’t get one. That was the thought process behind it. And too many minds don’t make it easy on the ground,” Pant had said on air after the match.

In response to this, Pollock has berated the Super Giants’ skipper for pinning the blame on the team management. The LSG management currently consists of head coach Justin Langer, director of cricket Tom Moody, strategic advisor Kane Williamson, assistant coach Lance Klusener and bowling coach Bharat Arun.

“It’s not really good that it’s coming from the captain because he is basically saying there are too many people giving him information. He is kind of throwing the management group under the bus,” Pollock said, speaking on Cricbuzz.

“Maybe we don’t know how it works—that’s the problem. You don’t know who has the final call, who sits with him, or how those discussions take place,” he added.

The Super Giants return to action after an eight-day break when they take on the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on May 4.