Rishabh Pant’s post-match conversation with Ian Bishop after Lucknow Super Giants’ loss to Rajasthan Royals quickly took an uncomfortable turn on live television, when the LSG captain defended his team’s season using an “F” word during the interview. The moment arrived after Lucknow, captained by Pant, failed to protect a total of 220-plus at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Rajasthan chased the target down with five balls to spare, powered by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s rapid 93 off 38 deliveries and Dhruv Jurel’s unbeaten 53, and the defeat only deepened the sense of struggle around LSG’s IPL 2026 campaign.
Pant, however, refused to dismiss the quality of his group despite the result. “We are proud of the team, regardless of how things stand,” he said after the match. “Regardless of the table, we are confident in the team. It hasn’t gone our way, and everyone knows that. But that doesn’t take away the fact that we are a f***ing good team.” The comment immediately drew intervention from Bishop, who stepped in on air and offered an apology for the language used during the live segment.
In the earlier stretch of his post-match explanation, Pant explained why Lucknow’s innings—despite being built on a strong foundation from Mitchell Marsh and Josh Inglis—did not fully translate into the kind of finish they would have wanted. While Pant acknowledged the quality of the bowling and the conditions as the game moved into the later phases, he also pointed to missed opportunities when the team had momentum. “I think there are a few ways to look at it,” Pant said. “In the middle overs and then in the last over, the way Archer bowled, I think it was really good. But we could have actually scored five or ten runs more on this kind of wicket when you get that kind of start, and we just couldn’t capitalise in the last over.”
He also addressed the tactical headache of trying to execute bowling plans on a surface where margins are thin, especially when set batters are able to accelerate at the right moments. Rajasthan’s chase gained speed early through Sooryavanshi, and Lucknow found it hard to steady the rhythm even after posting a large score. Pant admitted the challenge was real: “It’s definitely a difficult one, because you always want to back your bowlers, but sometimes it’s hard. On a wicket like this, there is less margin for the bowlers and having too many suggestions doesn’t work out. Sometimes you have to keep it simple: focus on one ball at a time and just execute the plan.”
When asked whether LSG missed Mohammed Shami—who was not part of the match—Pant suggested that experience often becomes a decisive factor in pressure situations. “You know, experience is something you’re always going to miss, regardless of whether things go good or bad, because experience can’t be earned overnight,” he said. “It takes years for people to gain that experience, and in high-pressure situations, that is definitely one thing that keeps you ahead.”
Pant further explained why Shahbaz Ahmed spent most of the innings on the sidelines, pointing to the risk created by the left-handed batters in Rajasthan’s batting group. “Definitely because of the left-handers,” he said. “They had been batting for a brief period of time and exposing a left-arm spinner, we didn’t want that, especially because Rathi was there in the side, so why take a chance on Shahbaz when Rathi is there in the side.”
By the time the interview wrapped up, Pant was defending both the tactics used in the match and the broader decisions within the dressing room. The swear-word episode became the viral talking point, but the bigger discomfort for Lucknow was harder to ignore: a 220-plus total that wasn’t enough, a failure to land the finishing punch, Shami’s absence, and yet another night when the captain had to explain how a team with plenty of talent keeps losing control of games.
